April 21, 2006

UK bird flu quarantines to be lifted

Restrictions put in place after a dead swan found in Scotland tested positive for the H5N1 virus will be lifted starting this weekend, authorities said Thursday (Apr 20).

A three-kilometre protection zone will be discontinued early Saturday, the Scottish Executive said in a statement. A wider 10-kilometre surveillance zone will be lifted May 1, according to the statement.

The requirement for chicken farmers to keep their birds indoors within a 2,590 square kilometre area of the Scottish village of Cellardyke will also end May 1 if no further cases of bird flu emerge, the executive said.

The restrictions were implemented Apr 5 after a dead whooper swan was discovered in the village, which is about 450 miles north of London.

The deadly virus has not been found in domestic UK poultry, although an imported parrot from Surinam died in quarantine from the strain last year.