An early warning system to prevent avian flu from entering Ireland has been introduced by the Department of Agriculture.
As the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of the possibility of between five million and 150 million deaths from the flu pandemic, Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan highlighted the "critical importance" of early detection.
She told Labour's agriculture spokeswoman Dr Mary Upton that the department had introduced an "early warning system where increased or unusual patterns of wild bird mortality are observed".
The system was introduced in conjunction with the National Parks and Wildlife Serve, the National Association of Regional Game Councils and Birdwatch Ireland. It is part of a "more intensified approach to surveillance, including surveillance of wild birds and poultry".
The department is also working closely with the Northern Ireland department of agriculture.
Ms Coughlan stressed, however, that while people could be infected from avian influenza, they rarely died. While 60 people had died in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, "the majority of deaths have occurred in rural areas, and most have been linked to direct exposure to dead or diseased poultry, particularly during slaughtering, defeathering and food preparation".
She said that according to the WHO "no cases have been confirmed in poultry workers, nor have any cases been linked to the consumption of properly cooked poultry, meat or eggs".
However, there were concerns of a possible "mutation" or a genetic change in the virus in Asia that could lead to a new strain "capable of human to human transmission".
Dr Upton said that the WHO's prediction of between five million and 150 million potential deaths was "staggering" and asked what specific advice had been given to the poultry industry. "If there was an outbreak of avian flu, it would have economic consequences for that industry and a subsequent impact on human health," she added.
"In the event of an outbreak of this disease, those at the frontline would be not only those involved in the poultry sector but my department officials who are fully au fait with the implications of that," said the Minister.
