April 11, 2006

experts react to the news of the identification of the Cellardyke swan as a Whooper Swan

DNA tests by government scientists have found that a dead swan found in Cellardyke, Scotland which tested positive for H5N1 avian flu was a whooper swan. The migratory species originates from outside the UK and it is unclear whether the dead bird picked up the disease abroad.

Bob McCracken, Past-President of the British Veterinary Association (BVA), said:

“The identification of the bird that died of H5N1 as a Whooper swan leaves us with two possible scenarios; we still don’t know if the H5N1 swan died on the shore Great Britain or way out at sea. If the swan died far out at sea then the bird population around Fife may still be in the very good position of being free from H5N1 virus. However, if the whooper swan was alive and infected on the shores of GB, then we must accept that other birds in the Fife area may also have acquired infection. This latter scenario is the one we have to focus on – we need to assume the worst until we can prove otherwise. The extensive testing that is going on will help establish whether any other bird in the Fife area has acquired the H5N1 virus.”

Dr Martin Fowlie, British Trust for Ornithology, said:

“The H5N1 positive swan discovered in Cellardyke, Scotland has been confirmed as a Whooper swan. The Icelandic breeding population winters in the UK, the Low countries and the south Baltic Sea. It is possible that this individual wintered on the continent and was making its way back to Iceland to breed and died en route, either in Scotland or on the North Sea and was washed up. Another possibility is that it was a bird that wintered in the UK and contracted the virus from another bird before moving North. However, given our current knowledge of the situation we don’t know which of the two scenarios is more likely.”