UK bird flu no cause for panic, farmers told

Ireland should not panic in the face of the bird-flu outbreak in the UK, the Minister for Agriculture said tonight.

As scientists cull 160,000 at-risk turkeys on a Suffolk farm, Minister Mary Coughlan said the threat to Ireland’s €150m poultry industry was low and being assessed on an hourly basis.

It was confirmed yesterday that the H5N1 strain of the virus was found at the Bernard Matthews company farm.

“We’ve always had a high state of alertness in relation to bird flu within the Agriculture Department and other departments,” Ms Coughlan said.

“I think it’s important that we don’t create panic.”

The Donegal TD said it was unnecessary at this point to confine birds indoors but surveillance was ongoing.

The Republic is working closely with Northern authorities and would adopt an all-island approach if required, she added.

“Current measures are more than adequate to deal with the current risk and they are being assessed on an hourly basis.

“We cannot say for definite that we will never have the disease but what we can say is that adequate precautions are in place.”

She referred to the Republic’s success in battling the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001.

The minister also said it was important for consumers to continue to buy poultry products to protect the domestic industry.

Experts from the National Disease Control Centre (NDCC) will continue to meet on a regular basis to monitor the situation.