Compulsory housing order for poultry from November 10 to stop spread of bird flu

The order follows recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in Fota Wildlife Park in Cork and a further reported outbreak in a turkey flock in Co Carlow

Minister Heydon has announced a compulsory housing order for all poultry and captive birds starting November 10.

A compulsory housing order for all poultry and captive birds will come into effect on November 10.

The compulsory order came from the Minister of Agriculture, Martin Heydon, in an effort to protect Irish flocks and poultry from avian influenza.

The Minister said: “Due to the increased risk of avian influenza to our poultry, I am taking action to reduce the threat to our industry and to our poultry farmers’ livelihoods.

"Poultry and captive birds must, from Monday, 10 November, be housed or confined in such a manner that they do not have access to other poultry, captive birds, or wild birds. Reducing the opportunity for contact with potentially infected wild birds is crucial as this is one of the main ways in which the virus can spread.” 

The order follows recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in Fota Wildlife Park in Cork and a further reported outbreak in a turkey flock in Co Carlow.

“There has been strong and ongoing co-operation between my department and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland on this issue. Minister Muir is introducing a similar order in Northern Ireland,” Minister Heydon added to his announcement of the housing order.

Current outbreaks

Fota, which has been closed since mid-October, confirmed this week that doors will remain closed in the wildlife park until the end of November, where the situation will be assessed again.

The wildlife park, since its first announcement of the outbreak, has now reported 12 cases of bird flu amongst its species and has had to make the difficult decision to euthanise 73 of its birds.

Fota are currently implementing targeted mitigation measures to protect the remainder of its bird species within the park.

Speaking on the closure, Director of Fota Wildlife Park, Aileen Tennant, said: “This very serious situation, which originated from wild bird populations, requires a concerted national effort from all facilities caring for birds. 

"Fota Wildlife Park is fully committed to playing our part in proactively maintaining our robust biosecurity measures and protecting the birds in our care.” 

Also announced this week was an outbreak of HPAI H5N1 in a turkey flock in Carlow. As a consequence, restriction zones have been put in place around the holding, resulting in a 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone.

Very low public health risk

Minister Heydon reminded the general public that HPAI does not pose a food safety risk to consumers of well-cooked poultry products, including eggs. 

The HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HSE-HPSC) and the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) advise that the risk to public health from the strain of Avian Influenza that is circulating is very low.

Members of the public are once again advised not to handle sick or dead wild birds and should report any cases to the department via their avian check app.

The department is encouraging flock owners to report any suspicion of disease to their local Regional Veterinary Office, or if outside business hours, to contact the National Disease Emergency Hotline on 01 492 8026.