The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) again stressed that there was no risk of contracting avian flu from eating chicken.
The virus was passed through close contact between live infected chickens and humans, said acting FSAI chief executive Mr Alan Reilly.
The only remote danger posed was if an infected piece of raw chicken made its way to Ireland and was then discarded and eaten by a bird. The bird could then spread it to chicken flocks here, he said.
Avian flu was a very infectious disease, so sick chickens died very quickly, thus reducing the potential to pass it on.
However, he said people should always exercise caution when cooking chicken.
It should be refrigerated at the correct temperature and should be handled in a hygienic fashion. Separate chopping boards and knives should be used when preparing raw and cooked meats, he said. Thorough cooking of chicken would kill off any harmful micro-organisms that still lingered.
Dr Reilly said people who eat chicken were more likely to contract salmonella or campylobacter, than avian flu.
Dr Robert Cunney, clinical microbiologist with the National Disease Surveillance Centre, said the risk of the virus spreading from one of the infected countries to Ireland was "exceedingly small".
He said there had been less than 30 cases in humans since the disease was first noted in humans in Hong Kong in 1997. About one third of these people had died. Several bodies are involved in monitoring to detect the presence of diseases such avian flu in this State.
All poultry imports must come through designated border inspection posts so poultry from banned countries would be blocked at source, according to the FSAI.
The FSAI has set up a telephone helpline to answer queries about avian flu. The number is 1890 33 6677.
