Tests on 16 dead birds on beaches
Map showing Criccieth and Harlech
Officials are still collecting the dead birds for testing
Police and environment officials have collected the bodies of 16 birds found dead on two beaches in north Wales.Six dead guillemots have been found at Harlech beach in Gwynedd and another 10 at nearby Criccieth beach.
The birds will be tested for bird flu as a precautionary measure. Guillemots are not on the list of potential importers of the virus.
Wales Chief Veterinary Officer said the H5N1 avian flu virus was less likely to be found in guillemots.
A spokesman for the chief veterinary officer said: "This is a routine enhanced surveillance where more than three dead wild or garden birds have been found together in the same place.
"H5N1 avian flu is less likely in guillemots than swans, geese or ducks and no more likely to have a positive result than thousands of other birds collected for testing".
As you can appreciate we have just come out of a cold winter and it is a time when you might already find dead birds
Defra spokesman
A swan found dead at Cellardyke in Scotland on 29 March tested positive for the HN51 virus but no other cases have been confirmed in the UK since.
The spokesman said: "Scotland remains the priority area and the rest of the GB results should be available within a week."
Defra said it was not unusual to find dead birds in the UK, adding a number of factors may be responsible for causing the deaths, including infectious diseases, adverse weather conditions, poisoning and starvation.
A spokesman said they would not comment on individual cases, but said Defra would investigate reports made to their hotline and take samples.
Hotline
"As you can appreciate we have just come out of a cold winter and it is a time when you might already find dead birds," he said.
Since the hotline was set up six months ago there had been thousands of calls.
The Defra spokesman said they were asking people with poultry to "reacquaint themselves" with avian flu guidelines and said they were particularly interested in finds of single dead swans or high numbers of ducks and geese.
Tests are still being carried out on a swan found dead on Anglesey last week.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_west/4910786.stm
Map showing Criccieth and Harlech
Officials are still collecting the dead birds for testing
Police and environment officials have collected the bodies of 16 birds found dead on two beaches in north Wales.Six dead guillemots have been found at Harlech beach in Gwynedd and another 10 at nearby Criccieth beach.
The birds will be tested for bird flu as a precautionary measure. Guillemots are not on the list of potential importers of the virus.
Wales Chief Veterinary Officer said the H5N1 avian flu virus was less likely to be found in guillemots.
A spokesman for the chief veterinary officer said: "This is a routine enhanced surveillance where more than three dead wild or garden birds have been found together in the same place.
"H5N1 avian flu is less likely in guillemots than swans, geese or ducks and no more likely to have a positive result than thousands of other birds collected for testing".
As you can appreciate we have just come out of a cold winter and it is a time when you might already find dead birds
Defra spokesman
A swan found dead at Cellardyke in Scotland on 29 March tested positive for the HN51 virus but no other cases have been confirmed in the UK since.
The spokesman said: "Scotland remains the priority area and the rest of the GB results should be available within a week."
Defra said it was not unusual to find dead birds in the UK, adding a number of factors may be responsible for causing the deaths, including infectious diseases, adverse weather conditions, poisoning and starvation.
A spokesman said they would not comment on individual cases, but said Defra would investigate reports made to their hotline and take samples.
Hotline
"As you can appreciate we have just come out of a cold winter and it is a time when you might already find dead birds," he said.
Since the hotline was set up six months ago there had been thousands of calls.
The Defra spokesman said they were asking people with poultry to "reacquaint themselves" with avian flu guidelines and said they were particularly interested in finds of single dead swans or high numbers of ducks and geese.
Tests are still being carried out on a swan found dead on Anglesey last week.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_west/4910786.stm
