Infected pheasants came from Britain

The Department of Agriculture is monitoring several sites around the country after it emerged that the pheasants at the centre of an avian flu scare in West Cork were imported from Britain.

It follows confirmation yesterday that restrictions around two tracts of land in the Clonakilty area will remain in place for several days despite test results proving the West Cork outbreak was not the virulent H5N1 strain.

The department said there was no risk to public health, but said it was monitoring other sites after establishing the source of the birds. They were part of a larger batch imported from a specialist breeding operation in Britain, and distributed to several gun clubs around Ireland.