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Error forces rethink on bird flu risk zone
April 12, 2006
GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN CHIEF NEWS CORRESPONDENT
- Scientists mistook bird flu infected whooper swan for a native mute swan
- Migratory whooper swans pose higher risk of spreading infection in UK
- 600 whooper swans tested for bird flu as authorities consider quarantine
Key quote "We are considering that question in our discussions with ornithologists and epidemiologists. We will take whatever information we have to consider and introduce a proportionate approach" - Charles Milne, Scotland's chief veterinary officer
SWEEPING new bird flu restrictions may have to be imposed across large parts of Britain after scientists discovered they had wrongly identified the type of swan found dead in Fife, the Scottish Executive admitted yesterday.
DNA tests on the bird showed that, rather than being a resident mute swan, as officials at first believed, it was a migratory whooper swan, which may have carried the disease around the UK.
The mistake was blamed on the creature's state of decomposition. Urgent discussions are taking place to establish whether the government needs to upgrade its risk assessment.
There are believed to be more than 8,000 whooper swans scattered around Britain, over-wintering after flying in from Iceland, Russia and Scandinavia. Scotland has significant populations around the Forth and on Loch Leven.
Ross Finnie, the Scottish environment minister, said although the situation was serious, it was not a crisis and he would listen to scientific advice before taking any decision to impose new protection zones. "I will take whatever advice I receive," he said. "If that indicates a higher degree of risk, we will not hesitate to change the measures."
The problem facing the government is that it does not know whether the Cellardyke bird made it to the UK and came into contact with other birds, or died offshore and drifted to land.
Experts are split on the significance of the information. Professor Hugh Pennington, of Aberdeen University, said it was possible that Britain's first case of H5N1 was a one-off.
"This whooper swan probably came from Germany and may have died off the Scottish coast as it struggled across the sea," the leading microbiologist said.
But Bob McCracken, a past-president of the British Veterinary Association, said it was equally possible that the swan was alive and infected when it arrived in Britain. If so, he said, "we must accept that other birds in the Fife area may also have acquired infection. We need to assume the worst until we can prove otherwise." [THANK you!]
Dr Martin Fowlie, of the British Trust for Ornithology, said while it was possible that the Cellardyke swan wintered on the Continent and was making its way back to Iceland to breed when it died, it was equally possible it had reached the UK - probably wintering in southern England - and contracted the virus from another bird before dying as it moved north.
More than 600 whooper swans from around Britain have already been tested for the virus.
Yesterday, Scotland's chief vet, Charles Milne, said it was impossible to say whether the bird had caught the disease in another country or in the UK.
But he said the fact that the swan was not a native bird was not necessarily good news. "Whooper swans are long-distance migrants. They potentially move around more than mute swans," he said.
He said the authorities needed more time to consider the implications of the DNA test results before looking at the possibility of further restrictions.
He said: "We need to consider the implications and what other measures may be necessary."
After confirmation that the Fife swan had succumbed to the HN51 strain of bird flu, the authorities set up a 1.8-mile protection zone around Cellardyke in which birds were to be tested, a six-mile surveillance zone in which the movement of poultry was restricted and a 1,000sq mile wild bird risk area in which bird owners were told to keep flocks indoors.
Asked whether there was a need for similar restrictions in other parts of the country where whooping swans over-wintered, Mr Milne said: "We are considering that question in our discussions with ornithologists and epidemiologists. We will take whatever information we have to consider and introduce a proportionate approach."
He said it was difficult to say whether the new information made it more or less likely that other birds had been infected.
According to Mr Finnie, the initial confusion over the species recovered from Cellardyke harbour was caused by the extent of decomposition and the fact that it had been partly eaten by other animals so that the head was missing. [Ohmygod! There are probably kids playing football with it at this very moment!!]
Once tests confirmed it had the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu, samples were sent for DNA testing, which revealed it was a whooper swan.
Mr Milne stressed that any reported findings of dead whooper swans anywhere in Britain were being investigated as part of the surveillance procedures already in place and that no others had so far tested positive.
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=556522006
April 12, 2006
GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN CHIEF NEWS CORRESPONDENT
- Scientists mistook bird flu infected whooper swan for a native mute swan
- Migratory whooper swans pose higher risk of spreading infection in UK
- 600 whooper swans tested for bird flu as authorities consider quarantine
Key quote "We are considering that question in our discussions with ornithologists and epidemiologists. We will take whatever information we have to consider and introduce a proportionate approach" - Charles Milne, Scotland's chief veterinary officer
SWEEPING new bird flu restrictions may have to be imposed across large parts of Britain after scientists discovered they had wrongly identified the type of swan found dead in Fife, the Scottish Executive admitted yesterday.
DNA tests on the bird showed that, rather than being a resident mute swan, as officials at first believed, it was a migratory whooper swan, which may have carried the disease around the UK.
The mistake was blamed on the creature's state of decomposition. Urgent discussions are taking place to establish whether the government needs to upgrade its risk assessment.
There are believed to be more than 8,000 whooper swans scattered around Britain, over-wintering after flying in from Iceland, Russia and Scandinavia. Scotland has significant populations around the Forth and on Loch Leven.
Ross Finnie, the Scottish environment minister, said although the situation was serious, it was not a crisis and he would listen to scientific advice before taking any decision to impose new protection zones. "I will take whatever advice I receive," he said. "If that indicates a higher degree of risk, we will not hesitate to change the measures."
The problem facing the government is that it does not know whether the Cellardyke bird made it to the UK and came into contact with other birds, or died offshore and drifted to land.
Experts are split on the significance of the information. Professor Hugh Pennington, of Aberdeen University, said it was possible that Britain's first case of H5N1 was a one-off.
"This whooper swan probably came from Germany and may have died off the Scottish coast as it struggled across the sea," the leading microbiologist said.
But Bob McCracken, a past-president of the British Veterinary Association, said it was equally possible that the swan was alive and infected when it arrived in Britain. If so, he said, "we must accept that other birds in the Fife area may also have acquired infection. We need to assume the worst until we can prove otherwise." [THANK you!]
Dr Martin Fowlie, of the British Trust for Ornithology, said while it was possible that the Cellardyke swan wintered on the Continent and was making its way back to Iceland to breed when it died, it was equally possible it had reached the UK - probably wintering in southern England - and contracted the virus from another bird before dying as it moved north.
More than 600 whooper swans from around Britain have already been tested for the virus.
Yesterday, Scotland's chief vet, Charles Milne, said it was impossible to say whether the bird had caught the disease in another country or in the UK.
But he said the fact that the swan was not a native bird was not necessarily good news. "Whooper swans are long-distance migrants. They potentially move around more than mute swans," he said.
He said the authorities needed more time to consider the implications of the DNA test results before looking at the possibility of further restrictions.
He said: "We need to consider the implications and what other measures may be necessary."
After confirmation that the Fife swan had succumbed to the HN51 strain of bird flu, the authorities set up a 1.8-mile protection zone around Cellardyke in which birds were to be tested, a six-mile surveillance zone in which the movement of poultry was restricted and a 1,000sq mile wild bird risk area in which bird owners were told to keep flocks indoors.
Asked whether there was a need for similar restrictions in other parts of the country where whooping swans over-wintered, Mr Milne said: "We are considering that question in our discussions with ornithologists and epidemiologists. We will take whatever information we have to consider and introduce a proportionate approach."
He said it was difficult to say whether the new information made it more or less likely that other birds had been infected. According to Mr Finnie, the initial confusion over the species recovered from Cellardyke harbour was caused by the extent of decomposition and the fact that it had been partly eaten by other animals so that the head was missing. [Ohmygod! There are probably kids playing football with it at this very moment!!]
Once tests confirmed it had the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu, samples were sent for DNA testing, which revealed it was a whooper swan.
Mr Milne stressed that any reported findings of dead whooper swans anywhere in Britain were being investigated as part of the surveillance procedures already in place and that no others had so far tested positive.
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=556522006