The spread of Asia's deadly bird flu to Europe is a "troubling sign" and migratory birds will inevitably carry the virus farther, U.S. Health Secretary Mike Leavitt said on Friday, according to Reuters. Speaking to reporters in Hanoi on a tour of bird flu-hit Southeast Asia, Leavitt said outbreaks in Turkey and Romania underscored the need for urgent action against the virus to prevent a possible human pandemic. "What is the probability that it will occur? No one knows, but signs that have occured in Turkey and Romania and other countries along the natural flyways are certainly troubling signs," Leavitt said. European countries tightened border controls on poultry and poultry products on Thursday after tests confirmed a bird flu outbreak in Turkey was H5N1, the same virus which has killed more than 60 people in Asia since 2003. Test results to determine the strain of virus infecting three ducks in Romania were due sometime on Friday. Experts suspect migratory birds, usually wildfowl which are silent carriers of the virus, may have carried the disease to Europe along their natural migratory routes. "We can expect for it to continue. There is no reason to expect it will not continue along the flyways that are well-documented," Leavitt said. "It will require a measured response on all of our parts if this continues to occur, as it inevitably will," he added.
