Department of Veterinary Services has conducted regular surveillance tests and so far, no positive results for Newcastle Disease, Avian Influenza or bird flu. The risk of transmitting bird flu is not available. Apparently, swiftlets are non-migratory and do not share flying or nesting space with other species of birds. So, their chance of contracting the virus is minimal. Due to their short legs, swiftlets never perch or rest on telephone cables like sparrows, except on their own nesting places. They are constantly in the air, except during rest or egg-hatching periods. Furthermore, they do not share the same food and water source with other birds or animals. They drink water droplets in the atmosphere and feed on insects flying mid air. In summary, health officials and scientists from all over the world have never isolated a single strain of Avian Flu virus from swiftlets. In fact the risk of contracting bird flu is much higher in poultry farm.

Another potential risk is the bleaching process added during the processing of edible-birdnest., especially for cave nest. Some traders of edible-birdnest use H2O2 to remove the odour of edible-birdnest, but H2O2 is a high toxicity chemical substance that can cause cancer, and it is prohibited as food additive.

There are some other traders who use SO2 and SO3 to remove the color for bleaching purpose. Same as H2O2, both SO2 and SO3 are high toxicity chemical substance that can cause cancer, and both are prohibited as food additive too.

Red-coloured edible-birdnests are caused by the absorption of minerals (iron absorption from the cave walls or high iron contents from the saliva). There are also unscrupulous traders who will artificially dye the nests to inflate their prices.