EU nations not prepared for flu pandemic--study

EU nations not prepared for flu pandemic--study

BRUSSELS -- European nations are at least two years away from being able to effectively handle an influenza pandemic, such as an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, a report published Thursday warns.

"It is a question of 'when' not 'if' a pandemic will occur," said Zsuzsanna Jakob, director of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control which carried out the study.