They did a DNA test on the infected swan they found at Cellerdyke and, lo and behold, it wasn't a native mute swan afterall, but a migrating hooper swan. These animals apparently spend part of the year in Russia, Norway and Iceland, and another part of the year in continental Europe (government-speak for France and Germany). During the times in between these stops, they migrate, and Fife is, so we are told, on their route. That's not all, though, they have conceded that there is a resident population of hooper swans in the UK, and that they are not all migrants. Nevertheless, there you have it. The dead swan came from somewhere else - probably the continent - where it became infected and eventually died somewhere along the migration path before being washed up on the Fife coast. So far there have been no further positive tests, so the authorities are optimistic that we have escaped a major outbreak this time - although the restrictions on transporting poultry within, into and out of the 10km zone and the demands that chickens be kept isolated from the wild bird population (at least within the WBRA) remain in force for the time being. Anyway, now that it seems that the dead animal was French (or German), and certainly not British (they must have found its passport), the panic is officially over and life can return to normal. One thing, though. The swan lay dead on the slipway at Cellardyke for at least a week before it was reported, and it was a further 24 hours after it was reported before it was taken away. During the time that it lay decomposing on the slip, it was being eaten by other birds. The person who reported it said that the corpse was in a pretty bad state, while the vets who removed it and took samples for testing from it have admitted that the swan had been nibbled at. What about the birds that fed on this swan's carcass... maybe we ought to remain concerned for just a little bit longer. It is a sure sign that you ought to be worried when government officials are going out of their way to reassure you that there is nothing to be worried about!