Scotland: No bird flu spread
2006-04-09 08:06
London - Wildlife health officers wearing hazard suits, face masks, eye oggles and gloves scoured Scotland on Saturday, checking for dead and ailing birds in the wake of Britain's first confirmed case of the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
Results confirmed on Saturday that five dead birds sent to a laboratory for testing were not infected with H5N1, Charles Milne, Scotland's chief veterinary officer said.
He confirmed late on Friday that tests on nine birds in Scotland and six swans in Northern Ireland had also proved negative for the strain, which has been linked to the deaths of 109 people since a wave of outbreaks swept through Asian poultry populations in late 2003.
The Scottish government said 22 more dead birds have been collected for testing from a heavily policed protection zone close to the harbor town where a swan infected with H5N1 was discovered.
The dead swan was found in Cellardyke, a town more than 725km north of London, 10 days ago and confirmed as having had H5N1 on Thursday.
The swan had a type of infection very similar to one found in more than 100 birds on Ruegen Island in Germany recently, Milne said.
Milne said he could not speculate about how the bird, which was found washed up in the harbor of Cellardyke, had become infected.
Samples taken from birds within a 3km protected area and a 10km surveillance zone established around the site are being tested by officials.
"As of this moment, we've got no positive results - all the results are negative," said Derick McIntosh, the head of veterinary operations for Scotland's government.
Farming unions have urged the public not to overreact to the first case of H5N1 in a wild bird in Britain, amid fears the effect could be devastating to Scotland's rural economy.
The National Farmers' Union said Scotland's poultry industry is worth more than £115m per year.
Poultry farmers have been preparing for the crucial Easter period, traditionally expected to boost sales of poultry products.
"It is important people carry on supporting the poultry industry - if they stop, the industry will be devastated," said the National Farmers' Union poultry board chairman Charles Bourns.
Britain's four leading supermarket chains reported no fall in sales of poultry.
- AP