Ireland steps up bird flu alert as risk rises
With calls to the Government’s bird flu hotline soaring in number since the discovery of an infected swan in Scotland, ministers admitted the threat to Ireland had increased.
Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan said she was ready to impose new control measures if needed as Fine Gael attacked what they branded the Government’s slow response to a potentially devastating disease.
The Government-appointed Avian Influenza Expert Advisory committee met yesterday and decided the Scottish outbreak represented only a “marginal increase” in risk to Ireland.
Mr Ahern used the successful containment of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001 to appeal for calm.
“We are now more prepared for bird flu than we were when foot-and-mouth disease was a risk to this country five years ago,” he said.
Calls to the national bird flu hotline have increased dramatically, with 155 yesterday and 98 the day before. Public alarm has risen after the H5N1 strain of avian flu, which can be fatal to humans, reached Scotland this week.
Although the H5N1 strain, which affects wild birds and poultry, does not easily pass from human to human, there are concerns it could mutate. If this occurred, it would spread rapidly as humans have almost no resistance to it.
Five birds found dead on the River Bann near Portglenone, Co Antrim, were declared free of the virus following examination. Nine dead swans in Scotland also tested negative.
A dead swan found in Meath yesterday and a sick swan found in Dublin were being examined last night by veterinary experts in the capital.
Ms Coughlan said she was closely monitoring the situation as Ireland was at “low to medium risk”.
Fine Gael agriculture spokesman Dennis Naughton criticised the slow response to “a disease that could devastate our economy”.
Mr Naughton said 12 of 16 garda stations surveyed by Fine Gael did not know the Government’s emergency bird flu helpline number.
“These instances highlight the fact that critical information on containing bird flu in suspected cases is not getting out into the public domain,” he said.
* Bird flu helpline: 1890-252283.
