Birds test negative for avian flu

ITV.com
Apr. 08, 2006

Tests on nine birds for avian flu in Scotland have proved negative following the discovery of the H5N1 strain in a dead swan.

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman was unable to say if the total number of birds being tested is still 14, or if that number has increased or diminished since yesterday.

The deadly H5N1 strain of the disease was confirmed in a dead swan in the coastal village of Cellardyke, Fife, yesterday. H5N1 can be fatal to humans but has not been known to pass from person to person.

Authorities have come under fierce criticism over the time it took to collect the swan after a member of the public called to report it and the time it took to confirm the results.

The bird was found last Wednesday on the harbour slipway of Cellardyke but was not removed until the following day.

Criticism came from the owner of the only commercial poultry farm within the newly-set up bird flu surveillance zone. Donald Peddie, who operates Kilduncan Poultry Farm at Kingsbarns, said he first heard about the bird flu discovery on TV.

A 3km protection zone has been thrown up around the area, along with a surveillance zone of 10km.

And a wild bird risk area has been set up in a 2,500 square kilometre area to the east of the M90 motorway and as far north as Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire.

Within this area were 175 registered poultry premises with more than 50 birds, they said. In total, the area contains 3.1 million birds, of which 260,000 are free-range.

The current outbreaks of pathogenic avian flu began in south-east Asia in mid-2003. There have been a total of 191 confirmed human cases of the H5N1 strain of bird flu reported to the World Health Organisation to date, and 108 human deaths.