The Department of Agriculture's National Disease Control Centre Management Committee met yesterday in Dublin following confirmation of high pathogenic H5N1 avian flu in three dead wild mute swans in Dorset, England.
The committee was briefed on the most recent information available from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in Britain and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland, a statement said.
The new cases of the potentially lethal H5N1 strain came less than a month after restrictions on poultry movement in Norfolk and Suffolk were lifted by the EU following the culling of thousands of birds on turkey farms in the area.
The committee statement said that the most recent information available is that there is currently little migration of wild birds here and the migratory pattern is stable and, as such, the risk to Ireland remains low.
The Irish Farmers' Association's Ned Morrissey said the most recent outbreak reinforced the need for poultry growers here to maintain the highest levels of vigilance.
He said producers here have implemented extra measures, such as the installation of water chlorination systems to ensure the health status of their flocks is protected.