Labour calls for bird flu expert as viral fears grow

THE appointment of a bird flu expert in Ireland was sought yesterday as the EU braced itself for a likely spread of the lethal virus.

Labour Party spokesperson on agriculture and food Dr Mary Upton said the figurehead would co-ordinate the campaign to keep the virus out of Ireland.

She said this would avoid the confusion of recent weeks when different ministers were making statements about the level of threat.

Dr Upton also urged the Government to set up a special unit to deal with Ireland’s response to any incidence of avian flu, following confirmed outbreaks in Greece, Italy, and Slovenia. She said airports’ and ports’ checks must be strengthened and a national bio-security unit must be established.

Fine Gael spokesperson Denis Naughten, TD, said an outbreak of bird flu here would devastate the poultry industry, already struggling to come to terms with a threatened wind-down due to the nitrates’ rules.

He said that his party had called for a national bio-security Committee, made up of leading experts.

Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan said Ireland was at an increased risk to the virus spreading, but that risk was still low. She said her department was reviewing its contingency arrangements and will continue to do what it can to prevent the virus reaching the country.

Meanwhile, two dead swans in Germany have tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Ministry has confirmed. Earlier yesterday, Austria as well as Iran said it had detected the virus in dead birds. The strain of bird flu has so far killed 91 people worldwide.