FEARS of a widespread outbreak of bird flu in the UK receded today.
The good news came as an infected swan found in Scotland remained the only confirmed case of the deadly H5N1 strain.
The swan, found dead in the harbour of the village of Cellardyke in Fife, was the only positive case of more than 1,100 birds examined since the end of February, officials said.
A Government spokes- woman said there were currently no `report' cases - those which are suspected of bird flu and prioritised for testing.
The Government's top scientific adviser, Sir David King, said yesterday that bird flu was "absolutely not" present among poultry in Britain.
He added that he was "fairly optimistic" about its absence from the wild bird population.
He emphasised that to date only the swan had been washed ashore with H5N1 - and the bird may have come from an infected area of Europe.
Experts at the Central Science Laboratory in York are continuing DNA tests on the dead swan.
Meanwhile, Rural Affairs Minister Ross Finnie said experts thought it was likely that the bird was a native.
