Bermuda's fight against the threat of bird flu has begun.

Wild chickens in St. David's and Spittal Pond are being culled as part of a pilot programme. Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield said the two areas were known to have large feral chicken populations.

But Government has resisted calls for a ban on importing live birds ? for the moment.

Said Mrs. Butterfield: "Feral chickens are not just a noisy nuisance to many neighbourhoods, they have been proven to be an economic hazard for our farmers. The chickens pose a threat to aircraft and are a potential reservoir for diseases including the avian influenza which is currently in Asia, Africa and Europe."

Avian flu has infected birds and humans in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Iraq,Thailand, and Turkey.

It has also been found in birds in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Italy,Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Romania, Russia, South Korea and Ukraine.

Health experts have warned that if the disease mutates and passes from human to human it will quickly become a pandemic, potentially killing millions of people.

The pilot programme is expected to deal with the feral chicken issue in St. David's and Spittal Pond by May 2006.

Government Veterinarian Jonathan Nisbett said this would be the Ministry of Environment's main weapon against bird flu.

In November local veterinarian, Dr. Maureen Ware-Cieters, told that Government should consider banning the importation of live birds in order to reduce Bermuda's risk of contracting the bird flu.

Dr. Nisbett, however, said he did not consider it necessary to implement such a ban at the moment. "If the disease spreads to the US we would have to look into implementing that measure. "At the moment we import mainly poultry from the US.

"The birds are all U.S.D.A. approved." After yesterday's Press conference Dr. Nisbett said the "one major area of concern" is the importation of pet birds.

While he said it was not a large problem on the Island there were bird enthusiasts who collected rare, foreign species of birds to keep as pets. He said it was important that people not import birds from infected countries.

Currently conditions for importing birds to Bermuda require the owner to apply for permission and file a veterinarian certificate within ten days of the bird's arrival.

The certificate must illustrate that the bird is not contaminated with an infectious diseases and has not come from an area infected with communicable diseases.

The owner must also prove the bird has not come into contact with wild birds 45 days prior to its importation.

Many areas infected with the avian flu have implemented mass culling to prevent further infection.

By culling large portions of the feral chicken population in the next few months Bermuda will be taking a precautionary step to ensure the Island is prepared for the possibility of avian flu.

During the pilot programme the Ministry will evaluate the effectiveness of different capture techniques and gain insight into the costs of implementing the project Island wide.

Mrs. Butterfield asked the public to cooperate with the task force and cease feeding the feral chickens.