'Extremely uncertain and worrying time' for Fota Wildlife Park as four cases of bird flu confirmed 

Fota Wildlife Park has shut its gates indefinitely after bird flu was confirmed in samples taken from dead birds

Fota Wildlife Park will remain closed until further notice. Picture: Dan Linehan

Four cases of bird flu have been confirmed at Cork’s Fota Wildlife Park as it was announced that the park will remain closed until further notice.

It is understood that the positive results were linked to three dead geese and one sick goose, part of a flock of 20.

In a statement, the wildlife park said: "Following confirmed cases of avian influenza (bird flu) at Fota Wildlife Park, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has suspended public access to the Park until further notice. 

"At this stage, four confirmed cases of unvaccinated birds have tested positive for H5N1 at the Park.

"The team at Fota Wildlife Park has a robust zoonotic disease prevention and response programme in place, which includes a well-established avian influenza vaccination programme for the birds in its care. The safety of all staff, and the welfare of the animals in the care of the Fota Wildlife Park team, remains paramount during this time."

On Tuesday, Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon confirmed that samples taken from the birds showed the H5N1 avian influenza strain. 

According to the HSE-HPSC, the risk to public health from this strain is considered low for the general public and low to medium for those working closely with birds.

It is the latest confirmed case of avian influenza in Cork, following an outbreak at The Lough earlier this month.

Fota Wildlife Park director Aileen Tennant said: "This is an extremely uncertain and worrying time for all of us at Fota Wildlife Park. We are working closely with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and remain focused on the care and welfare of our team and the wildlife in the Park. 

"We are very grateful for the outpouring of support from members of the public, visitors, annual pass holders, as well as from our partners and international colleagues. I am conscious that this is a complex and dynamic situation, and we will continue to work closely under the department’s guidance, with a focus on getting to the stage where the park can reopen when it is safe to do so.”

The statement noted that because the park is a not-for-profit organisation, it relies on support from the public and visitors to the park to carry out its core mission of conservation, education and the protection of endangered species. 

"With average weekly operational costs of approximately €120,000, the closure of Fota Wildlife Park has a significant impact on its ability to generate revenue.

"As this is an ongoing situation, further updates will be shared as additional information becomes available."

Concern for poultry farmer

It comes as a poultry farmer who is based near the wildlife park has expressed concern that bird flu will spread to his flock via migratory birds following the confirmation of the cases.

In an interview with RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, farmer Richard Fitzsimons said it is a “stressful time” for him as turkeys are their big business in the run up to Christmas. 

“If God forbid, we did get it (bird flu) it would financially destroy the business. We are living in the flight path between Ballintubber and Rostellan and migratory birds fly over us daily.

"And it's just a worrying time that turkeys could pick up this in H5N1, and if they do, first of all, it would be very serious for the welfare of the birds, obviously, and second of all, financially.” 

He said that their turkeys are currently inside and they are doing everything they can to keep them virus-free. He said he has been advised by local officials not to leave the turkeys outside.

"I suppose for the greater population of poultry farmers, I would like to see action being taken in a housing order and definitely if it gets any worse, we do need to be very aware and get an exclusion zone because it's our livelihoods."

"Basically, we're doing everything we can. We've disinfected the doors, the traffic in and out of the premises is at a minimum. So, we're doing our best.” 

Mr Fitzsimons said that it is going to be hard to contain bird flu in Ireland.

"It spreads and it's there and we don't know how we're going to contain it or the department are probably going to have a huge job to contain it, to be fair, if it goes wrong because it's in the wild population."