British officials have confirmed that a parrot which died in quarantine in England has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the avian flu virus.
The parrot had been imported from South America last month and died last week.
Meanwhile, the European Commission says it will decide by Tuesday on a British government request to ban imports of live wild birds.
Currently imports are banned only from countries which have bird flu cases, such as Romania, Thailand and Turkey.
Earlier, Swedish officials said a duck found dead near Stockholm had a mild type of the H5 avian influenza virus but not the deadly form of bird flu that has killed more than 60 people in Asia.
It is not unusual for at least 20% of wild ducks to carry a mild form of the influenza virus at this time of year.
