Written question asked by James Paice (Conservative) on Tuesday, 10 January 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 16 January 2006. It was answered by Ben Bradshaw (Labour) on Monday, 16 January 2006 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Avian Influenza

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many wild birds have been tested for avian influenza in each of the last six months; whether each bird was (a) found dead, (b) shot and (c) trapped alive; whether each bird was (i) wildfowl and (ii) other species; in which country each was taken; and what the results were of the test on each.

Answer: To date approximately 3,179 wild birds have been tested for avian influenza viruses as part of surveillance activities across the UK.Of these 131 were found dead, 326 were shot as part of legal wildfowling activities and 2,722 were caught and sampled live. 239 were sampled in Scotland, 2,621 in England and Wales and 319 in Northern Ireland. 3,078 were wildfowl and 101 were other speciesTwo birds tested positive for low pathogenic avian influenza viruses. A mallard shot in Scotland tested positive for the subtype H6N2 and a shelduck that was caught live in England tested positive for the subtype H2.All other results to date have been negative.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 42140; 441 c892-3W
Session: 2005-06
Related items: Avian Influenza
Thursday, 19 January 2006
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Birds Disease control Wildlife Avian influenza
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk