Ride a White Swan

So, one day they just happen to be conducting a "simulation" of their response to a bird flu outbreak, and - surprise! - the next day they find a dead swan. Except, of course, it wasn't today they found it, or even yesterday, but at least two days ago, possibly longer.

So the time-line actually goes like this:
1. Dead swan spotted by locals in Fife, washing up and down on what they laughingly call a beach. Seagulls are seen pecking at the corpse.
2. Several days later, somebody bothers to retrieve it.
3. Tests run: whoops.
4. Here's that bird flu outbreak simulation we've been talking about running for about 18 months, folks.
5. Oh, by the way, some Swan somewhere appears to have died from some kind of flu-like virus. Of course "we don't know if it's the deadly H5N1 strain yet."

Prediction: dead seagulls, d'you think?

Another prediction: record numbers of poultry will now be rush-transported around the country in attempts to pre-empt any ban on their movements.