Bird flu at its 'worst ever on these islands'

The disease control zones required around the two infected premises in Co Monaghan, and the case in Co Cavan, extend into Northern Ireland.

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has met with his northern counterpart to tackle the spread of Avian influenza on the island as outbreaks continue to be confirmed in both jurisdictions.

Speaking after the meeting, Northern Ireland agriculture minister Edwin Poots said the UK and Ireland were experiencing their “worst outbreak of avian influenza to date”, with the HPAI H5N1 strain confirmed or suspected at four sites in Northern Ireland and five in the Republic of Ireland.

Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture staff assisted in the depopulation of one of the first affected sites in Co Monaghan, with Mr Poots explaining that across the UK and Ireland, outbreaks had ranged from small backyard flocks to large commercial premises with flocks of more than 100,000 birds.

“The disease control zones required around the two infected premises in Co Monaghan, and the case in Co Cavan, extend into Northern Ireland. My department worked closely with DAFM in establishing corresponding disease control zones in Northern Ireland and progressing the surveillance work required within those areas,” he said.

“I spoke to Minister McConalogue about our actions to date and the continued co-operation between our respective departments to manage this outbreak.

“My officials are regularly in contact with officials in the Department for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) to ensure that we can mitigate against further spread of the disease from one holding to the next.

“I thanked Minister MConalogue for the excellent engagement between both of our Departments and reiterated the essential nature of this work as we both seek to ensure our poultry industries are protected and that we do all in our power to tackle and eradicate this terrible disease as soon as possible.”

The first outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza subtype H5N1 (HPAI H5N1) in poultry in Ireland was confirmed on November 20, 2021.

The outbreak occurred in a flock of 36,500 turkeys in Co Monaghan where increasing mortalities (deaths) in the birds had been reported. On November 23, 2021 HPAI H5N1 was confirmed in a flock of 14,800 broiler breeders in an area very close to the first outbreak On November 30, 2021 a third outbreak of HPAI H5N1 was confirmed in an egg laying flock in Castleblaney, Co Monaghan.

In the last two weeks, two further cases have been confirmed - one in Monaghan and another in Cavan.

The Department has expanded its protection and surveillance zones around the three flocks to further mitigate the risk of spread of the disease. This places additional controls on the movement of poultry and poultry products within the zones. Movements into and out of the zones are also subject to licensing.

Information held by European Commission’s Animal Disease Information System (ADIS) showed that by the start of this month, the number of cases across Europe had already reached 527, with a further 221 outbreaks in poultry flocks.

“This is now the largest ever outbreak of Avian Influenza across these islands with, 52 cases across the United Kingdom and five cases in the ROI.”