ITN
Avian flu: UK on high alert
Avian flu: UK on high alert
Tests are continuing on nine swans found dead over the past couple of days to see if they have bird flu. EU agriculture ministers are meeting later to discuss how to deal with the spread of avian flu following confirmation from France that it has identified its first case of the lethal H5N1 strain. They are facing increasing demands to implement a Europe-wide vaccination programme - a controversial proposal which risks costing farmers their export markets. But Animal Health Minister Ben Bradshaw has so far ruled out a vaccination programme in the UK and foresaw moving birds inside if the deadly H5N1 strain was detected in Britain. Britain has had a contingency plan in place for the last three-and-a-half years and was well prepared, he said. Dr Freda Scott Park, president of the British Veterinary Association, said the Government was working in partnership with the poultry industry to minimise the risks of an outbreak. She described the contingency plans as 'very good'. A Defra spokesman said nine swans had been sent for tests over the weekend after members of the public called the helpline. Two each were from Bury St Edmonds, Winchester and Preston, while individual birds were found in Shrewsbury, Thirsk and Hertfordshire. 'All the tests have so far been negative but testing continues,' he added. 'Obviously, we are at a heightened level of surveillance given the case in France.' The spokesman was unable to confirm reports that a dead swan found in Great Abington, Cambridgeshire, was being tested at the EU's Weybridge Laboratory.
ITN | February 20, 2006
