The expert committee advising Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan on avian influenza will meet this morning to review contingency arrangements, following the outbreak at the Bernard Matthews poultry farm in Suffolk.
The management committee in the Department of Agriculture's national disease control centre already met on Saturday to assess the increased risk posed by the outbreak of the potentially fatal H5N1 disease at the turkey farm. Europe's veterinary experts will also discuss the issue when they meet European Commission officials tomorrow.
Ms Coughlan yesterday said the State's safety measures were more than adequate but the situation was being evaluated on an hourly basis.
"Since the first notification of avian influenza almost two years ago, we have carried out simulation for example. We have registered all our flock owners. We have given them all the relevant information that they need in the event of anything happening. We will be reviewing our information packs now for those involved in the entire sector and we'll be refining that this week," she said on RTÉ Radio's This Week programme.
"We've put our laboratories on alert. We've also increased our capacity within the veterinary side and also within the [avian influenza] helpline (1890 252283).
Irish officials are in contact with colleagues in the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in London and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Belfast, as well as the European Commission in Brussels.
The Department of Agriculture's wild bird surveillance programme is targeting priority areas which are regarded as being at the greatest risk of the introduction of avian flu.
"The reality is that you cannot control wild birds but what we can have is active surveillance and immediately after that you put in place additional measures. But the present status of the situation is that no additional measures . . . are needed as of yet," Ms Coughlan said.
She said people could not contract avian flu from eating properly-cooked poultry products. The Minister also said that there was enough of the anti-viral Tamiflu vaccine for veterinarians and staff who would be involved in any culling operation.
IFA president Pádraig Walshe urged all poultry growers to remain vigilant and ensure that the proper safety measures were in place on all farms.
Supermarket chains also moved to reassure customers that their turkey products were safe. Tesco Ireland and Superquinn both stock a Bernard Matthews cooked turkey product but in both cases the product does not come from the affected farm. SuperValu and Centra stores do not stock any Bernard Matthews products.
