In a bid to reassure Italians, Health Minister Francesco Storace on Monday visited the three southern regions where a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu virus was found in six dead wild swans over the weekend.
"I would like to spread a word of calm, by telling Italians that we are hard at work and on top of the situation," said Storace.
The minister said all the country's 20 regions had been thoroughly checked and that the arrival of birds carrying the H5N1 strain appeared to be limited to Sicily, Calabria and Puglia.
The staff at public veterinarian offices and a special environmental police force has been stepped up by 10% to cope with this emergency, he said.
A special phone line has also been set up to answer citizens' queries and by mid-day more than 3,000 people had called for information, Storace said.
Storace stressed that there was no threat that bird flu could be spread by local birds - pigeons, seagulls, sparrows and starlings - which are not migratory species. Meanwhile, officials in Calabria said they were
examining a dead heron found by a motorist on a highway near the city of Castrovillari for possible signs of the H5N1 virus.
Vets near the northern city of Lecco said they were also running tests on a dead swan fished out of the river Adda for possible traces of the virus.
The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization stepped in to provide reassurance and to praise Italy for its "extremely effective" control measures.
The measures taken by Italy "are an example of how governments should move to contain the virus once it is detected," said Juan Lubroth, Senior Officer with FAO's Animal Health and Production Division.
"It is important to underline that there is no evidence that the H5NI virus is present in poultry in Italy. At the moment, the disease remains confined to individual cases in wild birds only," he added.
The World Health Organisation also complimented Italy's "extremely efficient" reaction, saying it had set an example for other countries who could face a similar situation. Italian experts who gathered at Milan university to discuss preventive measures said there was absolutely no cause for alarm.
Leading virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco said it was important to insure that farmers confined their poultry to
avoid possible contact with wild birds.
"But aside from that, I can safely urge Italians to eat poultry and eggs without any qualms."
Yet, despite repeated reassurances from officials and veterinarians, sales of poultry in Italy have plunged by more than 50% since the weekend, Farmers Federation Coldiretti said on Monday.
A survey by Eurobarometer showed that 83% of Italians are worried about a possible pandemic.
Although medical experts have stressed that all poultry is safe if cooked and there is no possibility of human-to-human contact, Italians appear to be gripped with "poultry panic", Coldiretti said. The deadly virus reached Turkey last month, killing four children - the first human deaths outside South-East Asia.
Some 20 adults who caught the disease - all people whohad close daily contact with fowl - were recently discharged from Turkish hospitals.
