UK reports bird flu case

2006-04-06 08:11

London - Britain has confirmed bird flu in a dead swan found in a Scottish village, authorities said on Wednesday, but more tests were needed to determine whether it is the deadly H5N1 strain.

Scottish authorities confirmed the H5 bird flu subtype in the wild swan, which was found in Cellardyke, more than 725km north of London.

It was the first H5 case reported in the United Kingdom.

Final test results were expected back on Thursday from an European Union laboratory in Weybridge, England, officials said.

If confirmed to be H5N1, Britain would be the 13th EU country to report cases of the strain in wild birds, according to the European Commission.

Further tests

Britain's chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds cancelled a bird flu readiness exercise on Wednesday. She said she halted it so all Britain's resources would be available if necessary.

Authorities were "already in a high state of readiness," Reynolds said.

Charles Milne, the chief veterinary officer for Scotland, imposed a protection zone around the site.

"Bird keepers outside the protection zone should redouble their efforts to prepare for bringing their birds indoors if that becomes necessary," he said.

The protection zone requires poultry to be kept indoors and not moved except directly to the slaughterhouse, authorities said.

Scotland's National Farmers Union said there was some comfort for poultry growers because the disease was discovered in a wild bird.

"There is no evidence of (the disease) in the farmed population," deputy chief executive James Withers said, though he called for a national order to bring all poultry inside. "The lessons from Europe are that it will not infect the farmed population."

Scotland has a poultry industry worth more than £115m, the union said.

The H5N1 strain has killed more than 100 people worldwide since 2003, mostly in Asia.

- AP