Foraging

As I cycled in to work this morning along the river bank I spotted this lying at the water's edge on the pavement in front of the rowing club. It obviously wasn't going to find its way to a nest so I picked it up, put it carefully into my bicycle panniers and transported it to my office.
Then, nine hours later, I carefully transported it home again. I had planned to have it soft-boiled for my tea before going out to meet friends but I suddenly remembered avian flu and wondered about the wisdon of eating a wild egg.
Several months, ago when avian flu was first being reported, I did see no more than two birds floating dead in the water, but I have seen none since. I can't help feeling that if the disease were still rampant round here I'd see a lot more corpses and hear a lot less honking and quacking.
Any thoughts? Is this egg safe to eat? Will I cause another human pandemic if I eat it?