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Flu has not hit Europe's economy-finance ministers

Published 05/04/2009, 02:30 PM
Updated 05/04/2009, 02:32 PM

* Ministers see no evidence flu will hit Europe's economy

* Senior official says "commotion" will die down soon

By Dave Graham

BRUSSELS, May 4 (Reuters) - European finance ministers said on Monday they saw no evidence the H1N1 flu strain was hurting the European economy.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg Prime Minister who chairs monthly meetings of finance ministers from the 16 nations that use the euro currency, said scientific evidence suggested the flu outbreak's impact was manageable.

"I think all the ... commotion surrounding this crisis will die down in the next few days," he told reporters at the start of meetings involving European finance ministers in Brussels.

Twenty countries have banned imports of pork and other meat in response to the virus, which has killed 26 people, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) documents.

The WHO has said the virus, which has hit stocks of travel firms and airlines, could cause a global epidemic.

Despite this, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said he did not expect the virus to have serious consequences for the euro zone economy.

"I hope not. And there are no indications for this," he said in response to a question.

Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos saw no negative impact so far from the virus.

"Of course I have worries. In the worst possible scenario one could think of various serious consequences. But I think everyone should now be focused on trying to control the damage and limit any possible negative impact," he said.

The WHO said on Monday there was no evidence of sustained transmission of the virus in Europe or Asia. It has confirmed 1,025 infections in 20 countries but many people have experienced only mild symptoms and recovered without medicines.

The new H1N1 strain is not food-borne but fears it may spread via animal products have prompted restrictions on live pigs, pork, cattle, poultry, livestock, feed and animal semen from countries with reported infections, WHO documents showed.

The three countries most affected by the bans -- Mexico, the United States and Canada -- are among the world's top pork exporters, along with the European Union, Brazil, Chile, China and Hong Kong.

The EU, South Korea, Japan and Kosovo have said they will avoid any pork import bans for now, but some are increasing their monitoring of live pigs and pork products, the WHO said. (Additional reporting by Laura MacInnis; Editing by Jon Hemming)

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