The Minister for Agriculture has moved to reassure the Irish public after the first large outbreak of avian flu on a poultry farm in Britain.
The Government's expert committee will meet this morning to consider whether the outbreak, which has forced the destruction of 159,000 turkeys, changes the avian flu risk faced by Ireland.
Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan yesterday stressed that the State's safety measures were "more than adequate" to protect the public, but the situation was being evaluated "on an hourly basis".
The outbreak has caused consternation in Britain given concerns over delays in identifying the potentially dangerous H5N1 strain of the flu. Authorities there were also investigating potential links between the discovery of the H5N1 avian flu at the Suffolk turkey farm and recent outbreaks of the disease in Hungary.
A team of 30 people was called in to gas the turkeys on the Holton farm in Suffolk throughout the night. The farm was part of the Bernard Matthews food business, which supplies a number of food outlets in this country.
The strain involved can be highly dangerous to humans if contracted but it very rarely infects people. It is also the strain found last month in Hungary, where an outbreak among geese on a farm prompted the slaughter of thousands of birds.
The management committee at the Department of Agriculture's national disease control centre met on Saturday to assess the risk. Europe's veterinary experts will also discuss the issue when they meet European Commission officials tomorrow. "We've put our laboratories on alert," Ms Coughlan told RTÉ yesterday.
Irish officials are also in contact with colleagues in the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in London and the Department of Agriculture in Belfast.
IFA president Pádraig Walshe urged all poultry growers to remain vigilant. "Consumers have nothing to worry about."
Last night, as the carcasses of the dead turkeys were shipped to Staffordshire to be rendered, the British government sought to play down health fears. Chief scientist Sir David King said: "I'm really confident this is not going to spread to other poultry holders. This doesn't add to the likelihood of it leading to a human pandemic at all."
Nevertheless the government said it was monitoring the public health situation. Health secretary Patricia Hewitt said: "We are preparing very, very seriously and thoroughly for the possibility of a pandemic flu. It is a very remote risk, but if it did happen it could be very serious indeed." ( Additional reporting Guardian service)
