Britain holds breath and awaits bird flu test results
However, the Scottish Executive announced that tests on nine birds had been proved negative.
However, a spokeswoman was unable to say exactly how many birds were being tested. Earlier in the day it was announced that 14 birds - 12 swans and two other birds - were being tested in Scotland.
All she could say was: “No further positive results have been received. Nine negative results have come back but we are unable to provide a running commentary on every test result.”
Three dead seagulls found at a boating lake in Gloucester in south-west England were also being tested as a precaution, although officials stressed the likelihood of the birds having had bird flu was “minimal”.
Any new positive test results would suggest that the type of avian influenza that can kill humans is spreading across the country.
A wild bird risk area covering 1,000 square miles has been put in place in eastern Scotland, meanwhile, after scientists confirmed that the swan found, more than a week ago in the coastal village of Cellardyke, tested positive for H5N1.
There are 175 registered poultry premises with more than 3.1 million birds, of which 260,000 are free range, within this area.
Experts warned that the swan in Fife may not be an isolated as police continued to check vehicles to ensure poultry keepers stay within the zone.
Chicken farmers have been told to keep flocks under cover and separate from wild bird populations.
Authorities have come under criticism over the time it took to collect the swan from Cellardyke and confirm the results.
The bird, found last Wednesday on the harbour slipway in the village, was not removed until the following day.
It was more than a week before the Scottish Executive confirmed the bird had the deadly H5N1 strain.
Scotland’s rural affairs minister said he was very concerned about the British public being scared off eating Scottish chickens and eggs after one supermarket chain remarked that it did not stock poultry items from north of the border.
The British government’s Cobra crisis management committee, meanwhile, held its second meeting with Scottish Executive officials to discuss the situation.
Scotland’s Chief Veterinary Officer Charles Milne insisted procedures were followed correctly.
Ross Finnie, Scotland’s rural affairs minister, met locals in Cellardyke yesterday and said afterwards: “I want to try to reassure people, they’ve obviously been very shocked by the discovery.
“What we’re trying to do here, to borrow an insurance phrase, is ‘don’t turn a drama into a crisis’.”
Amid the effort to extinguish any public health scare, Mr Finnie branded as “irresponsible” remarks by Waitrose that it didn’t stock Scottish chickens or eggs.
The minister told Scottish Television’s Scotland Today: “I’m very concerned about that ... for a supermarket to imply that there was a risk from buying Scottish produce was, in my view, irresponsible.”
Waitrose said it was simply responding to a request about the sourcing of its goods.
“Bird flu is not a food-borne illness and our customers understand this,” said a spokeswoman for the chain.
Experts said it was safe to eat all poultry and eggs, provided they were cooked properly, but they advised the public against handling any dead birds, while stressing the ‘minimal’ risk to humans.
John Oxford, professor of virology at St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London Hospital, said: “You wouldn’t catch this from walking past an infected bird.
“The danger to humans at this stage is virtually zero. The danger for chickens and turkeys in the immediate area will be much higher.”
Bird flu has killed 108 people around the world since the current outbreak began in south-east Asia in mid-2003.
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