EU approves rules on how to identify ‘novel’ swine flu
April 30th, 2009 - 9:40 pm ICT by IANSLuxembourg, April 30 (DPA) The European Union’s executive Thursday approved a set of rules for identifying the new form of swine flu as part of its bid to stop the disease raging out of control.
The European Commission has “adopted a common European definition for the novel flu virus”, a disease which “has been found to contain genes from pig, bird and human influenza viruses, in a combination that has never been observed before anywhere in the world”, the commission said in a statement.
Officials hope that the definition of the disease will make it easier for medics to identify any new cases at an early stage.
It will also “enable more efficient compilation of comparable information on the novel flu virus at European level by ensuring that we are all talking about the same things,” EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said in the statement.
The announcement came as EU health ministers held emergency talks in Luxembourg on the spread of the disease.
Since the beginning of the outbreak, EU officials have insisted that the disease should be called “novel flu”, not “swine flu”, in a bid to reassure citizens that it is safe to eat pork.
- '2009 swine flu pandemic won't return to Maharashtra' - Apr 04, 2012
- EU calls emergency talks as Spain confirms swine flu - Apr 27, 2009
- Debate rages on name change for swine flu, WHO says no - Apr 29, 2009
- Mexican swine flu outbreak kills 29, infects nearly 1,500 - Jan 28, 2012
- EU rejects travel ban, world looks for flu measures - May 01, 2009
- Key Facts about Swine Influenza (Swine Flu) - Apr 26, 2009
- 81 Mexicans die of swine flu - Feb 12, 2012
- US finds first case of swine flu in pigs - Oct 20, 2009
- EU debates sharing of swine flu vaccine - Oct 12, 2009
- CDC confirms three new swine flu cases in Iowa - Nov 25, 2011
- Russia to suspend livestock import from EU - Mar 03, 2012
- India prepared to deal with bird flu: Government - Aug 31, 2011
- Woman dies of swine flu in West Bengal (Lead) - Jul 29, 2010
- Russia to maintain EU vegetables ban until E. coli source is identified - Jun 07, 2011
- EU ministers fail to agree on banning flights to Mexico - May 01, 2009
Tags: citizens, compilation, emergency talks, european commission, european union, flu, flu virus, genes, health commissioner, health ministers, influenza, influenza viruses, luxembourg, medics, novel, outbreak, pig, swine flu