Experts review bird flu control measures

Irish disease control measures remain under close review this weekend following a surprise bird flu outbreak in the UK, the Agriculture Minister said tonight.

Experts from the National Disease Control Centre (NDCC) met this morning after it was confirmed that the deadly H5N1 strain was found on a turkey farm in Suffolk.

Agriculture & Food Minister Mary Coughlan said the NDCC reviewed her department’s contingency arrangements and a number of existing measures have now been stepped up.

The department is also reassessing the risk of the introduction of the disease into Ireland.

The minister said officials in Dublin were in close contact with authorities in London and Belfast and the European Commission in Brussels.

“I am confident that the extensive range of contingency measures in place, including legislative provisions, are appropriate to deal with the existing threat and I will not hesitate to introduce such further measures as would be appropriate to deal with any increased threat,” Coughlan said in a statement.

Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness said the Government must liaise with authorities at local, national and EU level to ensure the deadly virus does not cross the Irish Sea.

“The Irish poultry industry must step up its bio security measures on farms.

“We cannot afford to take any risks, said McGuinness who is Ireland’s representative on the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee.

He added: “It would be important now to understand how the virus got into this poultry farm and to restrict the outbreak, ensuring that there is no possibility of a crossover to the human population.

“The key to prevention at this stage is to stop access by wild birds to domestic poultry.

“The risk posed by the water cannot be underestimated.”

McGuinness said she had spoken to people in the poultry industry who had said they were alarmed.