Pigeon fanciers are breathing more easily now that their prized birds have returned to Malta after they were caught up in the bird flu scare that gripped Sicily last Saturday.

It was an unfortunate case of bad timing, because as a container packed with about 4,500 pigeons was sailing to Reggio Calabria, Italy, for the regular 250-mile race from Catanzaro, Sicily confirmed its first cases of bird flu.

Despite having all the official documents in hand, the Italian authorities stopped the local representatives of the Federation of Pigeon Racing Clubs at Customs on Saturday.

The Italian police were taking no risks and a pigeon fancier said that about 10 police cars surrounded the container to ensure none of the birds were released.

News quickly spread to Malta that the Italian authorities were toying with the idea of destroying all the prized racing pigeons, and members of the 23 clubs taking part waited with bated breath.

When contacted, federation president Mark Farrugia said there was no way the pigeons would have been killed because the birds had been sealed and had never come into contact with anything or anyone from the moment they left Malta.

"Of course, we were initially worried that this may be the course of action. However, the situation started being resolved immediately as the Italian authorities contacted the Maltese Veterinary Division," he said.

"I admit I didn't sleep for five days until I knew that all the birds returned to Malta safe and sound," Mr Farrugia added.

The sealed container, which remained intact, was finally released by the Italian authorities and it arrived in Malta under escort on Thursday night.

Veterinary Division head Mireille Vella said the pigeons are now being kept in quarantine for a few days just to be 100 per cent certain they were in perfect health.

"Pigeons are very low risk and we're confident these are healthy and will be able to return to their lofts soon," she said.

Dr Vella confirmed that the container packed with racing pigeons - each one costing no less than Lm150 - had received clearance from the European Commission which established there was no risk for them to return to Malta.

The division has asked the federation to advise its members to keep all their racing pigeons locked in the lofts and refrain from training them outside, just to be on the safe side.

"This directive stands until the end of the month. We will keep our members advised accordingly," Mr Farrugia said.

Dr Vella took the opportunity to appeal to the public to confirm any sightings of dead birds before calling the freephone of the Rural Affairs Ministry.

The calls have not stopped coming in since bird flu was confirmed in Sicily and the freephone has been inundated with calls as people report every dead bird they come across.

"We received a report that a dead fowl had been spotted - we went out to verify this report and it resulted that this 'bird' was merely a plastic bottle," she said.

"We are trying to handle the situation, but people are calling non-stop and pigeons and ducks are metamorphosing into swans. We appeal to the public to please be correct in their reports before calling in," Dr Vella appealed.

For questions on bird flu call the freephone number 8007 2211 during office hours, or the 24-hour line, 7903 3044, in case of any suspicion.

Poultry to be removed from schools

Heads of schools were yesterday told by the Education Ministry that all poultry, including pigeons, hens and ducks, housed on school premises or within the school boundaries are to be removed.

The move is one of the preventive measures being taken against the spread of the avian flu.

In a circular, heads of schools having poultry on school premises were urged to contact Mauro Pace Parascandolo, the Education Division's officer in charge of the pandemic influenza contingency planning, to help make the necessary arrangements. These include the removal of the poultry from the school boundaries to an enclosed location provided by the Veterinary Services.

Mr Pace Parascandolo can be contacted on2598 2249 or at mauro.pace-parascandolo@gov.mt.