BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe expects a number of deaths from the global outbreak of swine flu, although the continent is well prepared to fight the disease, a senior European Commission official said on Wednesday.

“Yes, people will die from this. It is not a question of whether people will die, but more a question of how many. Will it be hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands?,” Robert Madelin, Director-General for Health and Consumer Policy at the European Commission told Reuters.

“We don’t know the scale of this pandemic. But Europe is better prepared than ever,”

Madelin also said a travel ban to Mexico or the United States was not something the Commission would propose at a meeting of EU health ministers on Thursday, preferring instead to caution travellers to be more prudent.

He also said a vaccine could be ready in Europe in 100 days.