Scotland's first case of H5N1 virus confirmed

A SWAN which died of bird flu has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, the Scottish Executive confirmed yesterday.

A Scottish Executive spokesman said: "Tests from the Veterinary Laboratories Agency have confirmed that the sample from the swan found dead in Fife did contain the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu virus."

In the wake of the Scottish case, six dead swans were yesterday reported to authorities in the North.

Scottish and UK officials are carrying out a assessment of the risk to poultry and other kept birds.

Chief veterinary officer Charles Milne told an Edinburgh press conference that a "wild bird risk area' would be set up in a 2,500-square kilometre area to the east of the M90 motorway.

Within this area were 175 registered poultry premises with more than 50 birds, he said.

In total, the area contains 3.1 million birds, of which 260,000 are free-range.

"We are proposing to issue a veterinary directive to owners of poultry to house their birds where possible," he said.

If this was not possible, they would be expected to put in place measures to separate their birds from wild birds.

Gatherings of birds in that area would be banned, and there would be enhanced surveillance of wild birds, he said.

Mr Milne said there were currently 14 cases of birds being checked for bird flu in Scotland.

He added: "There is no indication that any of these are positive."

The Scottish Executive announced on Wednesday that a sample from a dead swan washed up in Fife had tested positive for the H5 strain of avian flu.

Further tests were carried out to confirm if it was the deadly H5N1 type.

It later emerged that the bird had washed up in the harbour of the coastal village of Cellardyke a week ago and that it had not been removed until the day after it was reported by a member of the public.

Today, under protection measures drafted, cars going in and out of the village were stopped by police and motorists were asked if they were carrying poultry.

Regarding the North, the British Government said four carcasses were recovered in Portglenone, Co Antrim, and two in Moira, Co Down, this morning.

The remains will be tested at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) headquarters in Belfast.

Bert Houston, chief veterinary officer for DARD, confirmed officials were working closely with their Scottish counterparts following the positive test in Fife.

But he forecast Northern Ireland would be able to cope if the virus crosses the Irish Sea.

Mr Houston said: "We have good contingency plans in place and have implemented all the EU requirements."

He added: "I am confident that if avian influenza did come to Northern Ireland we would be able to handle it."

Mr Houston confirmed that the department's helpline had been very busy this morning but said that was to be expected in light of the media coverage.

He said the worst case scenario would be an outbreak which would affect the commercial poultry industry.

But he said the position in Northern Ireland was completely different to that in the Far East where the industry was less advanced.

Liam McKibben, DARD's director of animal health and welfare, said 350 dead and live bird samples were tested between October and December last year.

All the results have come back negative.

Speaking about the Scottish case, the National Farmers' Union (NFU) said the confirmation was a "significant" development in terms of poultry health.

NFU president Peter Kendall said: "This is an unwelcome but certainly not unexpected development.

"All of the contingency plans that we have for Avian Influenza (AI) have been drawn up on the basis that the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain would reach the UK sooner or later.