A parrot which died in quarantine in Britain has tested positive for avian flu, the British government confirmed tonight.
Its Department for the Environment, Fisheries and Food said the H5 strain of the disease was found in the bird imported from South America in September but did not say if it was the lethal H5N1 strain of the disease.
It is the first case of avian flu in Britain - in recent weeks it has been detected in Romania, Turkey and Greece after apparently being brought from Asia by wild migrating birds.
"The confirmed case does not affect the UK's official disease free status because the disease has been identified in imported birds during quarantine," chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds has said.
The bird was part of a mixed consignment of 148 parrots and "soft bills" that arrived on September 16th.
They were being held with a consignment of birds from Taiwan.
The birds, which were being held in a biosecure quarantine unit, have all been humanely culled, the Department for the Environment, Fisheries and Food said.
Ms Reynolds said this "incident showed the importance of the UK's quarantine system". She added: "We have had similar incidents in the past where disease has been discovered but successfully contained as a result of our quarantine arrangements."
Defra stressed it was "very difficult" for humans to contract avian influenza but all those who came in contact with the culled consignment have been given antiviral treatment.