EU must help Ukraine to fight flu

UKRAINE: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called on the European Union to help neighbouring Ukraine fight a flu epidemic and a growing number of H1N1 cases, saying its further spread is threatening the wider bloc.

Ukraine shut schools, banned public meetings and restricted travel earlier this month in an attempt to combat the H1N1 flu epidemic, which has also caused public concern in Poland. "The character of this threat demands that rapid action be undertaken at the European Union level," Tusk wrote in a letter to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who holds the rotating EU presidency. WARSAW, Wednesday, Reuters