UP TO yesterday, laboratory tests were being conducted to determine the cause of the deaths of 14 pigeons found on a ship which docked at ATM terminals on Monday.
The Port Authority of Jamaica reported that the ship's last port of call was in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
There were concerns that the deaths of the birds could have been caused by the bird flu virus also known as Avian Influenza, a strain which has left at least 90 people dead in Asia.
However, health officials have linked the deaths to a routine eradication exercise recently conducted in Trinidad and Tobago to reduce the population of the birds.
Dr. Osville Watson, senior veterinary officer in the Agriculture Ministry told The Gleaner/Power 106 News that preliminary investigations have indicated that the birds were poisoned from Trinidad.
Additionally, Dr. Watson said there have been no reports of the disease in the region. According to him, samples have been taken from the decomposed bodies of the birds, but in order to test for bird flu, Dr. Watson said examinations and confirmation would have to be obtained by way of a reference laboratory in the United States or Europe.
Meanwhile, director of veterinary services in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Lynette Peters, said adequate surveillance measures are in place at the island's ports.
"There are public health inspectors as well as veterinary quarantine officers who are stationed at all our major ports, and the ship agent or a customs officer would quickly report any incident to the veterinary or health inspector," she said.
The ministries of health and agriculture are currently conducting a $64 million National Avian Influenza Surveillance Programme as part of a campaign to prevent the entry of bird flu to the island.
Members of the public have been advised to report any incident of dead birds.
