By Michael Kahn LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Many European countries are poorly prepared for a human influenza pandemic and lack specific plans to distribute antiviral drugs or control movement around affected areas, public health researchers said on Wednesday. While 29 out of 30 European states now have strategic plans in place, countries need to better coordinate their efforts to deal with the threat of a flu pandemic, according to report published in the World Health Organisation's Bulletin. "Many nations remain ill prepared for the on-the-ground realities of an imminent flu pandemic, said Richard Coker, who led the study comparing progress countries have made over the past year in preparation. "Critically, the who, the what, when and where is not defined for antiviral medications which are the first line of defence before vaccine supplies can be manufactured and distributed." Health experts say a global influenza pandemic is long overdue. There were three such pandemics last century, including the 1918 global outbreak in which anywhere from 50 million to 100 million people died, and milder ones in 1957-58 and 1968. Researchers cannot predict which strain will strike next but the H5N1 avian flu virus now hitting flocks of birds across Asia, Africa and parts of Europe is the main suspect. Humans rarely contract H5N1, but the virus has killed 202 out of 330 people infected since it re-emerged in Hong Kong in 2003, according to the World Health Organisation. No humans have died in mainland Europe, although four have died in Turkey. In Europe, two thirds of national plans to deal depart from WHO guidelines on limiting movement to and from affected areas to stop an outbreak from spreading, said the report, written by experts at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Companies such as GlaxoSmithKline Plc <GSK.L> and Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA> are working on H5N1 vaccines but there are fears limited production capacity will lead to shortages. All but one of the 30 countries had plans for pandemic vaccination, but less than half of those outlined ways to store and distribute vaccines. There were also few details on who will administer vaccines and where it would occur. Most nations also have plans for antiviral drugs to treat people who develop flu during a pandemic, though the report highlighted many of the same pitfalls as with vaccinations and said confusion remained as to how to use the treatments. "It was often unclear as to whether the drugs should be used pre- or post-exposure," the report said.
