By Chris Hardy

THE SCOTTISH Wildlife Trust is awaiting the results of tests on six birds, including four swans, found dead at Montrose Basin nature reserve over the weekend.

A further two swans and five geese found dead on the reserve on Sunday and reported to DEFRA are also to be tested.

The finds fuelled speculation that the dead swan found at Cellardyke, which sparked the bird flu scare last week, may have come from the native population at Montrose Basin, 30 miles up the coast.

Scottish Rural Affairs Minister Ross Finnie has said the “preponderant” view of ornithologists was that the bird was part of the population around Montrose. Yesterday, however, the SWT played down the suggestion and questioned the source of the minister’s information.

“We understand the bird was not ringed so we don’t know what evidence there is to point towards it coming from Montrose,” said a spokeswoman. “Montrose could be one source, but there are many others.”

SWT chief executive Simon Milne said, “I don’t think there is any particular evidence it comes from there.

“Obviously it would be nice to know where it originated from, but I don’t think it’s going to be possible to tell in the short term.

“We are not panicking. The reserve and the basin visitor centre remain open.”

Staff on the reserve and at Angus Council have been fully briefed on what to do if the public contact them for advice or a bird is found.

The SWT’s stance was echoed by the Government’s top scientific adviser, Sir David King, who said the swan may have come from an area of Europe that had previously been infected.

“The one swan doesn’t mean it has arrived here. We need to see more evidence of spread before we can say that it has arrived in the UK,” he added.

North East MSP Alex Johnstone said he had spoken at length to Angus Council’s environmental health department.

“We all have to be careful and there are a number of birds from the basin being tested at the moment. But there is concern about the speculative nature of Mr Finnie’s comments,” he said.

Mr Johnstone added, “His conclusion is nothing more than informed speculation.”

Across the country, fears of a widespread outbreak of bird flu in the UK were receding yesterday.

The swan found in Cellardyke remained the only confirmed case of the deadly H5N1 strain from more than 1100 birds examined since the end of February.

A spokeswoman for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said there were currently no “report” cases—those which are suspected of bird flu and prioritised for testing.

Any positive test results for H5N1 would be made public.

An emergency plan has been prepared should bird flu reach the north-east.

A 1000 square mile area of eastern Scotland up to Stonehaven has been declared a bird flu danger zone after the H5N1 virus was found in Fife.

David McIntosh, of the Grampian Emergency Planning Unit, said that if a bird carrying the disease was found in the region, a similar model to that used during the foot and mouth crisis would come into effect.

A local disease control centre would convene at the Thainstone state veterinary office in Aberdeenshire and a management control team would be set up, headed by a regional operations director from Edinburgh.

The team would include a divisional veterinary manager, a principal agricultural officer, a public health consultant, a police liaison officer, a Scottish Environment Protection Agency representative and senior council officers, including Mr McIntosh.

They would put into effect a plan already drawn up by the Grampian joint emergencies working group. This body, which meets daily, recommends to the authorities what to do in a crisis.

Mr McIntosh said the priorities would be similar to that for foot-and-mouth—limiting the spread of the disease.

There is less of an issue in terms of physically disposing of birds than having to kill lots of cattle.

However the main difference is the public health element, as foot and mouth does not affect humans.

As in Fife, police would throw up a 3 km protection zone around the area where any birds were found, along with a surveillance zone of 10 km. Restrictions on moving poultry and hatching eggs within these zones would also be put in place.

Poultry farmers would be told to keep birds indoors and agricultural markets, fairs and shows would be banned.

A contingency plan that would kick in if bird flu mutates into a form that can pass between humans would aim to ensure vital health and council services are provided during a pandemic, when thousands of public sector staff are expected to be off ill.