http://www.thisisessex.co.uk/display.var.860993.0.flu_tests_on_13_dead_birds.php
Flu tests on 13 dead birds
By Steven Blaakman
Inspectors are testing the bodies of 13 birds found next to a lagoon for bird flu.
Officers from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural affairs (Defra) picked up the bodies of seven swans and six ducks after they were found near a lagoon between Stambridge and Paglesham earlier this week.
Defra is doing a routine check on avian influenza on the birds, but has also warned the RSPCA and Anglian Water about the find in case there is another cause for the deaths.
Mottram Rankin, whose farm Rankin Farms is near the lagoon, alerted Defra on discovering the bodies.
Mr Rankin said: "Very sadly, we heard swans had died at the lagoon. When we got there we found six dead swans as well as several ducks.
"Some of them had been dead for a while. It wasn't pleasant.
"I was worried pollution could have been the cause of it."
A Defra spokesman said although the birds were being tested for bird flu, there was no reason to panic.
He said: "This is a routine test. There is no particular reason to think avian influenza is behind it. A claim has been made this is because of pollution in the water.
"Our job is to test for avian influenza. We don't test for pollution. But they have gone the extra mile to report it to the RSPCA and Anglian Water."
Flu tests on 13 dead birds
By Steven Blaakman
Inspectors are testing the bodies of 13 birds found next to a lagoon for bird flu.
Officers from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural affairs (Defra) picked up the bodies of seven swans and six ducks after they were found near a lagoon between Stambridge and Paglesham earlier this week.
Defra is doing a routine check on avian influenza on the birds, but has also warned the RSPCA and Anglian Water about the find in case there is another cause for the deaths.
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Anglian Water denied pollution could be behind the deaths and said all their sewage discharges complied with Environment Agency guidelines.
Mottram Rankin, whose farm Rankin Farms is near the lagoon, alerted Defra on discovering the bodies.
Mr Rankin said: "Very sadly, we heard swans had died at the lagoon. When we got there we found six dead swans as well as several ducks.
"Some of them had been dead for a while. It wasn't pleasant.
"I was worried pollution could have been the cause of it."
A Defra spokesman said although the birds were being tested for bird flu, there was no reason to panic.
He said: "This is a routine test. There is no particular reason to think avian influenza is behind it. A claim has been made this is because of pollution in the water.
"Our job is to test for avian influenza. We don't test for pollution. But they have gone the extra mile to report it to the RSPCA and Anglian Water."
