One million face infection if bird flu outbreak hits Ireland

MORE than one million people could be affected by a major outbreak of avian flu in Ireland, with as many as 15,000 deaths likely to result from the pandemic.

The fallout from a major outbreak of a fatal virus in the Republic was outlined by a senior Health Service Executive official yesterday.

Gavin Maguire, assistant HSE national director with responsibility for emergency management, said at least one quarter, and possibly more, of the population was likely to become infected during the first wave of a major flu pandemic. He said the predicted death rate was based on the worst-case scenario of 37 fatalities per 10,000 population.