UK swans tested for bird flu

Tests are being carried out on nine dead swans found across Britain at the weekend to determine if they were infected by bird flu.

The swans were discovered in Bury St Edmunds, Winchester, Preston, Shrewsbury, Thirsk and Hertfordshire.

A spokesperson for Defra said that the tests had so far been negative, but said that tests were still continuing.

The announcement follows the discovery of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus was discovered in a dead duck in France.

EU agriculture ministers are meeting in Brussels today to discuss the spread of bird flu and the possibility of vaccinating fowl against the disease, which has so far been found in France, Greece, Italy, Austria, Germany and Slovenia.

In France and the Netherlands, farmers have been ordered to bring all poultry indoors. France put forward the vaccination proposal last week and it has been backed by the Netherlands, which was forced to slaughter 30 million birds following a bird flu outbreak three years ago.

However, Defra said that poultry would only be brought indoors if the H5N1 virus was confirmed in Britain. Farmers have been issued with new guidance, telling them to prepare to bring their poultry indoors within 24 hours of the virus being discovered in Britain. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Tony Blair said: "It is common sense that as the incidents of bird flu on the continent geographically get closer, so the level of concern increases. We recognise that, and that is why Defra is issuing new guidance today telling poultry farmers that they should prepare plans to bring their flocks in if that is necessary."

However, there are fears that this might not be enough to stop the spread of the virus.

The government has also expressed doubts about the introduction of the preventive vaccination. It is feared that the vaccination would be hugely expensive, not least because a country would be banned from exporting poultry if flocks were vaccinated.

Defra Secretary Margaret Beckett is believed to prefer other contingency measures to vaccination.

Defra introduced a scheme requiring anyone who has 50 or more birds to register with the government, last year.

Ninety-one people are known to have died from avian flu since 2003. Most of those who died are believed to have contracted the disease from being in close contact with infected poultry.

However, experts fear that the virus could mutate into a form which passes easily between humans and could develop into a pandemic.

(KMcA)