A second case of avian influenza has been confirmed on an Irish farm in less than a week, officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine told the Irish Examiner.
Its detection comes less than three days after the first case was detected on a turkey farm in Co Monaghan.
Officials confirmed traces of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 had been found in the flock, which is understood to have included up to 30,000 birds.
The second case involves a broiler flock, also based in Monaghan, which has tested positive for the same strain, H5N1. The department declined to say how many birds were affected.
A further 49 cases have been discovered in wild birds since the start of the month through the AI surveillance programme in counties Kerry, Donegal, Galway, Offaly, Roscommon, Tipperary, Wexford, Waterford, and Longford.
A department spokesman said: “The department is currently engaged in the depopulation of the flock to reduce the risk of spread in what is high-density poultry area.
“In addition, the department has been working to mitigate the risk of spread of the disease through the establishment of a 10km restriction zone to control the movement of poultry and poultry products to and from restriction zone around the restricted holding and where additional surveillance measures have been put in place.
“As a precautionary measure, the Department has introduced three new statutory instruments under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 to protect the poultry industry.
“These include a requirement to house or confine all poultry or captive birds such that wild birds and other animals do not have access to them and also the application of particular bio-security measures for poultry and other captive birds, as well as a ban on the assembly of birds.”
The latest case comes just a week after stringent biosecurity measures for birds and poultry, including a ban on the assembly of birds, came into effect across the island. Further measures, including a housing order, will be introduced from Monday, November 22, meaning all domesticated birds and poultry will need to be kept indoors.
The virus, which is known colloquially as bird flu, has the potential to wipe out whole flocks within 48 hours and circulates naturally in wild birds in continental Europe.
The term “highly pathogenic”, is used to denote a version of the virus that spreads very quickly, causing serious disease with the potential to wipe out whole flocks of most poultry species.
However, while it can cause serious disease in poultry and other birds, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre has confirmed that human infection is extremely rare, and properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, remain safe to eat.
Over the last 12 months, thousands of poultry were culled across the island after cases were detected in farm flocks — including 110,000 chickens on a farm in Northern Ireland in January and turkeys on a farm in Wicklow last December.
Once the virus gets on to farms it is very difficult to control as it can be carried on clothing or even on the feed lorries which move between farms and can have implications for exports.
Backyard and free-range flocks are particularly vulnerable to bird flu as they spend time outdoors, with October to April considered the high-risk period for the virus as it can be carried to the island during migration.
Clinical signs poultry keepers should look for in their birds include a swollen head, discolouration of neck and throat, loss of appetite, respiratory distress, diarrhoea and fewer eggs laid, although these vary between species of bird.
Avian influenza is a notifiable disease, which means anyone who suspects an animal to be affected must, by law, report it to the Department of Agriculture.
However, while the virus can cause serious disease in poultry and other birds, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre has confirmed that human infection is extremely rare, and properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, remain safe to eat.
A spokesperson for the department said: “Poultry flock owners should remain vigilant for any signs of disease in their flocks, maintain strict biosecurity measures and report any disease suspicion to their nearest department regional veterinary office.
“The department reinforces the need for vigilance and biosecurity and advises strict adherence to the precautionary measures against avian influenza (bird flu) recently introduced in regulations under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013.
“These regulations require specific biosecurity measures to be implemented by the keepers of all poultry (and other captive bird) flocks, irrespective of size, to help mitigate the risk of the virus and additional enhanced biosecurity measures that must be implemented in flocks of 500 birds or more.
“To further mitigate the risk of spread within the poultry sector, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, has made regulations under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 requiring flock keepers to confine all poultry and captive birds in their possession or under their control in a secure building, to which wild birds or other animals do not have access, and to apply particular bio-security measures.”
There have been no cases of avian influenza confirmed in Northern Ireland during the 2021 to 2022 season, where an avian influenza prevention zone is currently in place.
However, the situation is further advanced in England, where so far 15 outbreaks of the highly pathogenic strain have been detected on poultry farms and other domesticated birds.
It includes an outbreak at a wild bird rescue centre in Worcestershire.
Scotland and Wales both report one case each on farms.
