Coughlan imposes ban on UK birds over bird flu

Minister for Agriculture and Food Mary Coughlan is to impose a ban on the movement of birds from Britain for gatherings and shows in Ireland following the discovery of avian flu at a turkey farm in England.

A view of the John Pointon & Sons processing factory in Cheshire where some of the infected poultry are being incinerated. Photo: Peter Byrne/PA

The ban does not cover the movement of poultry from Northern Ireland.

The decision follows a meeting this morning of the management committee of the Department of Agriculture's National Disease Control Centre.

Ms Coughlan said the decision was "purely precautionary", and yesterday said the risk to Ireland's 80 million fowl was "minimal".

More than 159,000 turkeys are being slaughtered in Britain after it was confirmed on Saturday that the disease, which can prove fatal to humans in close contact with infected birds, had been detected at a farm in eastern England.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern attempted to allay public fears over the outbreak, insisting there were "no difficulties with eating poultry products"

British Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary David Miliband said he was satisfied that the response to the case had been rapid, well co-ordinated and appropriate.

In a Commons statement, Mr Miliband defended the Government's handling of the outbreak saying the risk to the general public was judged by health experts to be "negligible".

"In particular, the Food Standards Agency advise that there is no risk in eating any sort of properly-cooked poultry, including turkey and eggs, " he said.

But Ms Coughlan said this afternoon officials from her department would reissue advice to Ireland's 1,000 commercial poultry farms and 7,000 registered flock-holders on the need to be vigilant and ensure proper disease prevention procedures are followed.

The Department of Agriculture has set up a hotline for the public to use to report dead birds. It can be reached on 1890-252283.

"In the meantime no additional measures, other than the ban on the movement of birds from GB for shows and gatherings, are being introduced at this time," Ms Coughlan added.

Irish officials are also in contact with the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in London and the Department of Agriculture in Belfast.

Defra issued a statement yesterday saying the virus appeared to be confined to the Bernard Matthews farm near the town of Lowestoft. It said the virus was the same pathogenic Asian H5N1 strain found last month in Hungary, where an outbreak among geese on a farm prompted the slaughter of thousands of birds.

Defra has set up a restricted area of more than 800 square miles surrounding the farm where the outbreak occurred to try to contain the virus. The cull of tens of thousands of birds is expected to be completed today.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has said there is no health risk from eating cooked poultry. It pointed out that there have been no reported human cases of avian influenza anywhere in the world that have been linked to eating properly cooked poultry or poultry products. Cooking temperatures of over 70 degrees will kill the avian influenza virus if it is present.

Labour's agriculture spokeswoman, Dr Mary Upton, warned that it was "inevitable" that avian flu would reach Ireland.

She called on Ms Coughlan to appoint an official to co-ordinate Ireland's response to any outbreak and to begin an intensive public awareness campaign. Dr Upton also called for certain poultry products to be removed from shelves to reassure consumers and for security to be stepped up at ports and airports.

"Finally, the Government must establish a bio-security unit without further delay. . . . If the Government procrastinates, it may be too late," she said.

The Irish Creamery Suppliers' Association today advised farmers to double check their safety precautions.

Russia today banned imports of poultry products from Britain. Japan also suspended imports.

The H5N1 virus remains primarily a disease affecting birds: It has killed or forced the slaughter of more than 200 million birds globally since 2003. Although it rarely spreads to humans, there are concerns it could mutate into a strain that could spread from human to human, sparking a global pandemic.

There have been 271 confirmed bird flu cases in humans worldwide and 165 deaths since 2003, according to the World Health Organisation.