‘Every man for himself’ in Europe’s bird flu simul

    Plans by Switzerland to seal itself off in the event of a flu pandemic triggered “serious concern” by other countries during Common Ground, a recent simulation exercise, because of its strategic location as home to many drug and vaccine manufacturers.

This was just one of the many differences to emerge between European nations over border closures and emergency health measures in a training exercise whose results were published on Friday.

Similar concerns were raised about France, another important drug production centre, which also said it was considering border closures. However, French officials stressed they would exempt pharmaceutical workers and materials from travel bans.

Although judged “fit for purpose”, national plans paid less attention to international co-operation, incl-uding how to care for expatriates, restrict emigration and curb travel.

Several countries had not considered the possibility of school closures, or disruptions to public order, electricity supply and businesses.

The evaluation of the exercise, commissioned by the European Commission from the UK’s Health Protection Agency, called for greater understanding by member states of the laws governing travel restrictions across Europe.

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