Ministers meeting in Vienna agree European-wide publicity campaign to combat confusion over avian flu.
EU ministers have agreed to launch a public awareness campaign to ease growing fears over health and food safety as the avian flu virus spreads rapidly across Europe.
The move comes as Minister for Health Mary Harney announced the Government had ordered 400,000 doses of a vaccine against the H5N1 influenza virus.
She was speaking yesterday at a meeting of EU health ministers in Vienna and said the vaccine would be offered on a voluntary basis to healthcare staff in the event of the spread of an influenza pandemic.
EU health commissioner Markos Kyprianou said national health and media experts would launch a campaign that would be co-ordinated by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDPC).
"The truth is we have had great variations across the European Union in the way the media has reported on this problem," said Mr Kyprianou. "We have had certain confusion and that is why a joint information campaign is very important."
He also warned that bird flu would remain a problem for some time. "Both us and the European public have to learn to live with this problem, without any panic. We have the measures, we have the legislation, we have the experience to deal with similar problems. We have done so in the past, we can deal with it now and in the future," he said.
"There is no reason to panic . . . even if we have cases in farmed or domestic poultry," said Mr Kyprianou.
Before the meeting, France confirmed it had found the H5 bird flu virus at a farm where thousands of turkeys had died and was testing if the virus was in fact the deadly H5N1 strain. If so, it would be the first confirmed case of H5N1 on an EU farm.
In an effort to boost public confidence in eating poultry, the ministers ate turkey, duck breast, cooked quail eggs and chicken soup for lunch. Ms Harney said the public had nothing to fear and every EU health minister had eaten chicken for their lunch.
The World Health Organisation has warned of an increasing risk of a global flu pandemic caused by the mutation of the bird flu virus into a form of influenza that could pass between human beings. But experts are unsure whether the new vaccine ordered by the Government would offer any protection against a new strain of the virus that hasn't yet developed.
Britain and Ireland are the first states to place orders for the experimental vaccine, although it is understood several other states are negotiating.
The Department of Health is also examining how to get a "sleeping contract" with pharmaceutical firms. This enables governments to pre-order a vaccine capable of protecting against a pandemic flu virus that has not emerged yet. These types of contracts are considered vitally important due to the lengthy lead times required to produce vaccine in sufficient quantities.
Britain has already negotiated a "sleeping contract" for 120 million doses of a pandemic vaccine, if and when one is developed to combat a new human flu strain.