BIRD FLU IN THE UK : INFECTED SWAN MAY HAVE BEEN DEAD FOR A MONTH

BBC CONSTANTLY REASSURES VIEWERS "THERE IS NO NEED TO PANIC"

From The Guardian :

"The dead swan that signalled the arrival of highly pathogenic bird flu on British soil is believed to have contracted the disease up to a month ago, experts said yesterday. The carcass was so badly decomposed that it had probably been dead for three weeks when it tested positive for the H5N1 virus, having become infected several days earlier, they said.

"Efforts to check whether the virus had spread to other birds were stepped up yesterday. Veterinarians were swabbing birds in poultry farms and officials were scouring for dead birds in the 3km protection zone around Cellardyke, where the swan was discovered."

Tests on 12 swans and two other wild birds found dead in Scotland revealed that nine had died of other causes. The results of the other tests were unknown last night."

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A number of people commenting on UK newspaper websites have mentioned how disconcerting it is to see the BBC News repeating, at least once every twenty minutes, that "there is no need to panic."

As one poster pointed out, "The more you get told that, the more you wonder why they keep telling you not to panic. I wish they'd just shut and stop treating us like frightened children."

Another poster said : "I didn't even feel like panicking until they kept telling me not to panic."

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