There is no public health threat from Thai poultry products, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) assured consumers today.
And the Department of Agriculture has put measures in place to prevent the importation of poultry and feathered game from the Far East in accordance with an EU-wide ban announced earlier today.
No live flocks of chicken or hatching eggs are imported into Ireland or the EU from the infected countries - Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore.
But 1,200 tonnes of Thai chicken fillets were imported in 2002, according to most recent figures and are used in all sectors of the food industry.
Mr Alan Reilly, acting chief executive of the FSAI said: "Consumers should not be concerned as thorough cooking of chicken kills off harmful microorganisms.
The threat to public health from avian influenza [bird flu] through the consumption of cooked chicken is negligible."
The disease can be fatal to humans in contact with live birds. A Thai man suspected of being infected by a chicken has died of pneumonia and five others are in hospital.
The FSAI said the importation ban was appropriate but reminded people there is no evidence of risk from eating poultry products infected by the disease.
"Thai poultry products could pose a problem to our flocks, if say for example, an infected raw chicken fillet was discarded and then subsequently consumed by birds or poultry in Ireland or Europe," Mr Reilly said.
Medical evidence shows the virus cannot be passed from human to human but scientists are concerned the virus could mutate into an organism capable of being transmitted between people.
The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh, today said the ban on would be enforced at approved Border Inspection Posts through which all meat imports come.