Thu 6 Apr 2006
Scotsman
TESTS have confirmed that the swan found dead in Fife died from the deadly H5N1 strain of the avian flu virus which can be fatal to humans, an official for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said this afternoon.
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The discovery makes Britain the 14th country in Europe to have the disease in its territory. The H5N1 virus has caused the death of 108 people worldwide, most of them in Asia.
The infected swan has been confirmed as a native non-migratory Mute swan, which means it will have been infected in the country, rather than bringing the virus from abroad.
A 1.8 mile (3km) protection zone has been set up around the area where the swan was found, with a 10-km surveillance zone also in force.
Checkpoints remained in place this morning on roads leading out of the village, with officers ensuring any vehicle containing poultry or poultry products did not leave the area.
The decomposed and partially eaten body of the swan was first reported last Wednesday, but it is not known how long the creature had been lying there.
Scotland’s Chief Veterinary Officer, Charles Milne, defended the time it took to confirm bird flu infection in the bird. Mr Milne said: "The procedures were followed fully and the timeline could not have been tighter."
The government's crisis management committee was meeting today to review the UK's contingency plans. Scottish ministers are also meeting to discuss the problem; First Minister Jack McConnell, who is in America for New York's Tartan Week, is being kept informed.
A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said: "We have been preparing for this for months and the key thing is to update everyone and ensure the plan is being implemented."
"Ministers on the civil contingencies group will be on standby for further meetings to discuss and review how our plans will be taken forward here in Scotland."
Tony Blair stressed the need for calm and for the public not to panic: "The Scottish Executive and ourselves will take the measures that are appropriate as indeed has been done cordoning off of the area and we will act accordingly to the advice that we get."
"I do just emphasise one thing. It is very important that people understand this. This is not a human-to-human virus, it is something that is transmitted to poultry. It is only if humans are in direct and very intensive contact with poultry that there is any risk involved."
The president of Scotland's National Farmers' Union, John Kinnaird, said "The evidence across Europe suggests that it is unlikely to get into the farm population and if it does then it becomes a different ball game.
"There are nine poultry premises within 10km of here and all the farmers are extremely worried. But they’ve been prepared for this for a long time, they are keeping their chickens indoors and the rest of the country is getting ready to do the same."
• Anyone who finds a dead swan, duck or goose, or three or more dead wild or garden birds together, should contact Defra on 08459 335577.
However, a single dead small garden or wild bird should be left alone and Defra need not be contacted, a spokeswoman said.
Trouble is Man U are catching Chelsea atm 
