Friday, April 07, 2006
Dead swans not killed by bird flu
Tests carried out on the dead swans found in Counties Down and Antrim show they did not die from bird flu, the Department of Agriculture has revealed.
Northern Ireland chief vet Bert Houston said other swans recently tested were not infected with H5N1.
Routine tests were being carried out on dead swans found on Thursday at Moira and near Randalstown.
The agriculture minister has said Northern Ireland is prepared to deal with any outbreak.
Lord Rooker’s comments followed the news on Thursday that a swan found in Scotland was carrying the H5N1 strain.
On the same day, council workers found a newly-dead swan on the River Bann near Portglenone. Later, a second partly decomposed bird and two badly decomposed swans were found nearby.
Bert Houston outlined what contingency plans had been made
Officials also recovered the carcass of a dead swan from a grassy field near Moira.
Mr Houston said there was a contingency plan in the event of avian flu being found in Northern Ireland.
“It will involve us setting up a series of command structures, getting a local exotic disease centre placed on the ground, we will put in 3km protection zones, 10km surveillance zones and apply all the control measures required by the European Commission,” he said.