Fourth swan has bird flu
A fourth swan has tested positive for bird flu


Bird flu has been confirmed in a fourth swan at Abbotsbury Swannery.
Flu jabs have been given to all workers as a precaution after the fourth swan tested positive for the H5N1 virus. The swan was found dead at the Abbotsbury swannery last Friday, and tests have been underway to confirm whether the virus has spread.
John Houston, general manager at Abbotsbury Tourism Ltd, said he was disappointed that another bird had tested positive: 'That puts us back to square one in terms of waiting for a 21-day clearance before we are out of the woods.
'It's disappointing,' continued Mr Houston, 'but not totally unexpected this early in the outbreak. It would be wonderful if it disappeared immediately but that's unrealistic.'
BIrd flu has been confirmed in a fourth swan at Abbotsbury Swannery, but the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has issued a statement saying: 'There is currently no evidence to suggest widespread disease in the wild bird population.'
To comment on this article, use the comment box below, or email us at clonews@ipcmedia.com. Read more about the countryside.
Sign up for the Country Life Newsletter
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
-
17 outstanding homes for sale across Britain, from under £250k to £6.5 million, as seen in Country Life
Something for every budget in this week's round up of homes across the country that have come to market via Country Life.
-
'We started thinking: if we were going to design a bike for Aston Martin, what would it look like? And then we simply couldn’t stop': Aston's new bike has everything you could ever dream of — except a price tag
The new Aston Martin .1R bicycle, a collaboration with manufacturer J.Laverack, leaves Paul Henderson stirred rather than shaken.