EU: Travel Will Spread Swine Flu

The summer holiday traffic is expected to accelerate the new influenza A (H1N1) across Europe, the European Commission recently warned.

“The anticipated arrival of seasonal flu in October, November, December, when added to the pandemic, will have an important effect on the acceleration of the spread of the virus and a rise in the numbers of deaths,” warned EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vasiliou.

Ms. Vasiliou announced that in early October an emergency council of EU ministers will convene in order for necessary measures to be taken.

Tourism Minister Kostas Markopoulos was recently questioned on what would happen in October if a H1N1 virus outbreak should occur.

“We do not need to see ghosts where there aren’t any,” he replied.

The tourism minister also underlined that the measures taken at Greece’s entry points are the strictest in Europe and therefore very effective.