BIRD FLU ANARCHY IN THE UK

By Darryl Mason

The avian influenza virus has reached the shores of the United Kingdom and anarchy has broken out in the corridors of the Scottish Parliment, and Whitehall, as arguments rage on what to do now to contain the spread of the virus.

And once again, a swan has been confirmed as the carrier.

A dead swan washed up on the shoreline of a small village called Cellardyke, in Fife, eight days ago. A woman found the corpse, was already informed enough to be suspicious and called the local police. The police took it from there.

But the corpse of the swan remained on the shore for up to 24 hours from when it was believed to have first washed up until it was removed.

During that time any number of dogs and cats and other birds may have come into contact with the virus, still alive, still fermenting, within the corpse of the swan.

A massive ten kilometre surveillance zone has now been established around the village, taking in more than 170 homes and properties holding at least 3 million birds and at least one free-range poultry farm.

BIRD FLU VIRUS ALIVE IN THE UK FOR AT LEAST EIGHT DAYS

Eight days pased by between when the corpse of the swan was discovered and when the surveillance zone, with its strict checkpoints and decontamination areas, was locked into place.

Eight days to confirm the presence of H5N1 in a dead swan? The WHO has previously reached such findings 72 hours or less.

All poultry transports in and out of the surveillance zone have now been stopped, but that only began in the past 24 hours. Before that, poultry flowed in and out of the area now locked down for at least six days.

How many cats, dogs and birds came into contact with the dead swan in the time it lay uncollected on the shoreline is not known, but it would only take minimal contact to infect a cat, and the theory that cats in particular can now pass the virus onto other birds, or worse, onto humans, is gaining credibility.

More updates will flow.

The BBC is carrying a load of reports and thorough backgrounders here.

The Independent has a straightforward accounting of how the virus was found and confirmed here, and see the sidebar on the site for more backgrounders and 'How Do We Stop The Spread?' type stories.

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A BIRD FLU VIRUS FACTFILE from the BBC site.

Bird flu viruses have 16 H subtypes and nine N subtypes.

Four types of the virus are known to infect humans - H5N1, H7N3, H7N7 and H9N2

Most lead to minor symptoms, apart from H5N1

H5N1 has caused more than 100 deaths in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam

The World Health Organisation says not all H5 or H7 strains are severe, but their ability to mutate means their presence is "always a cause for concern".