Bird flu surveillance zone removed

The zone is located in Co Monaghan with a small area of Northern Ireland also included.

The last remaining highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI H5N1) surveillance zone of 2022 has now been removed.

The zone was located in Co Monaghan, with a small area of Northern Ireland also included.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said that it has been a "hugely challenging and worrying time" for poultry farmers across the country, "but they have reacted superbly to the threat of avian influenza".

"They have been responsible and practical in the face of huge challenges," Mr McConalogue added. 

"Keeping avian influenza out of flocks is hugely difficult, but the entire industry has worked collaboratively to protect the integrity of the sector."

While the removal of the movement restrictions on poultry within the zone is a welcome event, the Department of Agriculture has emphasised that the country is still in the high-risk period for bird flu and will remain so until at least the end of April. 

Wild bird fatalities continue to be reported, with wild birds continuing to test positive for bird flu across the country.

The precautionary biosecurity and confinement measures introduced by the department in September and November 2022 to protect the poultry industry will remain in force. 

These include the requirement to confine all poultry or captive birds such that wild birds and other animals do not have access to them.

The department has stressed that stringent biosecurity, including housing or confinement of birds, is vital to mitigate the risk of the spread of disease and to protect poultry flocks.