Wise words from Jack Straw on the bird flu threat:

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he hoped that the co-ordinated action being taken across the EU would allay public concerns.

"It's on issues like this that the EU comes into its own," he said.

"Without the resources of the European Union, the co-ordination and funds that the European Union can bring, Europe would face much greater anxieties about the potential effects of avian flu than are there now," he said.