[Cyclefrance]

Well what do you know. We have a dead swan in Scotland now diagnosed to have been struck with H5N1.

So how did our governments slick response procedure work? Don't ask.

Swan was reported found in the water at the harbour of Cellardyke on the east coast of Scotland, and a possible victim of H5N1, on Wednesday 29th March last week. But it took until Friday for someone from the response unit at DEFRA (govt dept) to get a blood sample to the testing laboratory in the south of England. Unfortunately the sample arrived after 4.00pm and the lab staff were keen to make a hasty exit for the weekend. So the first test was only carried out on Monday of this week. The results showed H5N1 present, but, as this was not exoecetd/wanted as a result, to be sure a second test was requested. The results if this were only made available on Wednesday and then published to the public on Thursday. 8 days to congfirm if this was H5N1 or not - one dreads to think what a timescale like this would mean if the virus was ablke toi transfer easily.

Seems also that during all this time the carcass of the swan (which already showed signs of having been eaten/attacked by another animal on fisrt discovery) had been left where it was found - unguarded - so any number of other animals could have had contact with it.

That's the way our government has organised for its people to be protected. Makes you shiver, doesn't it? Oh, and today, it's just been announced that the swan may looks to have been a breed that is resident to the UK and not migratory - so where and how did it contract the virus, one has to ask...