Bird flu group meets to review plan

The expert group set up to advise Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan on avian flu met today to review the State's contingency…

The expert group set up to advise Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan on avian flu met today to review the State's contingency plan in case of an outbreak.

This follows yesterday's confirmation of an outbreak of the potentially lethal H5NI strain in Suffolk.

Experts in the UK believe the source may be migratory wildfowl and not, as previously thought, the giant Matthews plant 20 miles away which had an outbreak of H5N1 in poultry imported from Hungary earlier this year.

Yesterday Ms Coughlan introduced a simultaneous ban with Northern Ireland on the participation of birds from Britain at bird shows and gatherings in Ireland.

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She said the British authorities had already banned all movement of poultry around the infected farm, a 10km surveillance zone had been set up and pigeon racing had been banned in England.

The Irish Farmers Association said flock owners here were operating the highest levels of bio-security measures, to avoid any exposure to wild birds.

National Poultry Committee Chairman Ned Morrissey 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.