No need for public to panic

THE effect of the deadly bird flu outbreak in Britain, where 160,000 turkeys were culled in Suffolk, is that while this country has taken increased measures to avoid an eruption here, there is no need for panic among the general public.

The outbreak on a farm operated by Europe’s biggest turkey producer Bernard Matthews was identified as the Asian strain of the H5N1 virus.

Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan is correct when she said that this country is at a higher risk because the current outbreak is in Britain, much nearer than Hungary where there was an outbreak last month when thousands of geese were slaughtered on a farm.