WHO denies advising Beijing-bound tourists to pack bird flu drug

Via Canadian Press: WHO denies advising tourists to China for Olympics to pack bird flu drug. Excerpt:

The World Health Organization denies it is recommending that visitors to China for this summer's Olympic Games should pack an antiviral drug to protect themselves against avian flu.

The denial comes in the wake of a report Monday by the Italian news agency Ansa, which said WHO is warning tourists going to Beijing for the August sports event to arm themselves with the drug Tamiflu "in case of exposure to the disease virus."

The Ansa story quotes Walter Pasini, director of the WHO Collaborative Centre of Medicine for Tourism in Rimini, Italy.

But WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said Wednesday that Pasini does not work for the international agency itself and the report quoting him has "set off alarm bells" because it is erroneous.

"We would categorically deny that WHO's ever made any kind of recommendation to this effect or that there would be any need or justification ... in any context, including going to the Olympics in Beijing," Hartl said.

Pasini could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.