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BIRDS in London's royal parks are set to be caged amid fears avian flu could reach the capital.

Park chiefs today confirmed they have held crisis talks with the Government, and have built quarantine areas to house almost 100 exotic birds. The eight parks, including Richmond, Regent's, Hyde and St James's parks, cover 5,000 acres and are home to tens of thousands of wild and captive birds. A quarantine cage has already been built in St James's Park to protect its six pelicans. It is hoped the area, on Duck Island in the middle of the park, will keep them away from wild birds that could be carrying the lethal H5N1 virus.

A spokeswoman for the royal parks said staff were monitoring the estimated 200 swans that frequent its open spaces, following the discovery of avian flu in a swan in Scotland - the first case in a wild bird in Britain.

"We are planning contingency arrangements for our collection of exotic birds, which form part of the Royal Menagerie," said the spokeswoman. "The key is isolation, and keeping wild birds away.

"It is important to stress that at the moment there is no advice from Defra [the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] to move birds inside.

But we are, of course, planning for every eventuality."

Meanwhile tests were today being carried out on 14 Scottish birds to find out how far the H5N1 strain may have spread.

Samples from 12 swans and two other species are being examined amid fears the virus could quickly become endemic in the wild bird population.

Defra today said it had tested more than 1,000 British birds in the last five weeks.

Experts have warned it was highly unlikely the dead swan, found on Wednesday last week in the fishing village of Cellardyke in Fife, was an isolated case.

It was almost certainly part of a cluster infected by migrating wildfowl, said scientists.

Dr Bob McCracken of the British Veterinary Association said: "We have to accept the situation that the virus will be spreading among wild birds in the Fife area, and probably through time will spread to other parts of the UK."

Professor Albert Osterhaus, an expert on avian flu at Erasmus medical centre in the Netherlands, warned Britain could expect to see a similar pattern as Germany has. There, the virus spread slowly among wild birds, but yesterday reached a poultry farm. It has also infected cats in one region, sparking fears that domestic pets could be at risk.

# posted by Medical Information : 4:45 AM