Representatives of the European pharmaceutical industry Wednesday discussed their response to a feared swine flu pandemic with the European Union's top health policy-maker in Brussels, according to dpa. EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou had invited them to the EU's capital to ask about the current availability of flu vaccines and their capacity to produce and distribute more supplies if necessary. In a statement, officials said Commissioner Vassiliou and industry representatives had "exchanged views on the feasibility and the modalities, both from a technical and a regulatory point of view, to produce vaccines against the novel flu virus within the shortest timeframe possible." "The European Commission will continue to work with the industry, which has committed to helping address this public health crisis and to contribute to the effort to reduce the impact and spread of this novel flu virus," the statement said. The meeting came as the EU geared up to face a potential worldwide explosion of the disease, which is reported to have already killed at least 150 people in Mexico. And with at least one hundred suspicious cases still under investigation in Europe, the number of infected people on the continent was rising by the hour Wednesday. Spain reported a total of 10 confirmed cases in the afternoon, with other infections being reported in Austria, Britain and Germany. Health experts in Brussels have said it could take up to six months to develop an effective vaccine against the virus. Officials declined to say which pharmaceutical firms had attended Wednesday's meeting. EU health ministers are set to hold emergency talks in Luxembourg on Thursday amid reports that several member states want to impose travel restrictions to and from Mexico.
