Fifteen Member States of the EU and the European Economic Area, including France, are taking part in this joint purchase

The EU steps up its fight against avian influenza

The European Union has signed a contract for the purchase of up to 665,000 doses of a vaccine to prevent the transmission of avian influenza to humans, following cases reported in the United States, Mexico and Australia. The European Health Emergency Response and Preparedness Authority (HERA), set up during the Covid-19 pandemic, has signed a ‘framework contract’ with UK laboratory Seqirus to supply these doses over a four-year period, with an option for a further 40 million doses.

Fifteen Member States of the EU and the European Economic Area (including the 27 Member States plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) are taking part in this joint purchase, the European Commission said in a press release. These countries include France and Finland, but not Germany. The full list of participants was not disclosed. The doses of vaccine will be intended for ‘persons most at risk’ of potential transmission of avian influenza by birds or animals, such as poultry farm workers and veterinarians, according to the statement.

No human-to-human transmission to date

The Seqirus vaccine is currently the only one approved in the EU for human infections caused by H5 strains of the avian influenza virus. Thanks to the framework contract signed by the Commission, each participating state will be able to ‘order vaccines according to its needs’ to ‘prevent the spread or appearance of potential outbreaks’. The first consignments are already being ‘prepared’ for Finland, with deliveries ‘to other countries’ planned at a later date.

In the United States, several people have been infected with the avian influenza virus ‘A H5N1’ in connection with an epidemic in cows, according to the American health authorities. The World Health Organisation has called for a strengthening of the global detection network for H5N1, which is capable of infecting a wide range of animal species.However, no human-to-human transmission has been observed.In early June, the WHO also reported the death of the first human case of avian influenza linked to another strain, H5N2, in Mexico on 24 April, describing the death as ‘multifactorial’.