The Department of Agriculture and Food has begun to circulate biosecurity advice to poultry farmers on how to protect from poultry diseases including the avian flu and Newcastle Disease.
The leaflet and a follow-up titled Symptoms of Exotic Poultry Diseases are a precautionary approach in view of the Asian outbreaks, a Department of Agriculture spokesman said.
A seven-year-old Thai boy is the latest victim, bringing the total number of fatalities from the avian flu to 13. Scientists fear the disease may now be transmitting from person to person. There are also fears that the bird virus may combine with human flu to create a drug-resistant bug that could cause the world's next pandemic.
The EU yesterday confirmed its six-month ban on Thai poultry imports because of the bird flu outbreak.
Fresh and frozen Thai poultry products will remain barred from EU member-states until August 15th, the Commission said.
Their discussions took place as doctors continued to monitor two German women recently returned from Thailand who complained of flu symptoms.