The purchase of vaccine against the present strain of avian flu which humans catch from infected birds is being pursued by the Department of Health, an Oireachtas committee was told yesterday.
The vaccine was being developed and could offer some protection against the present strain to be used as a first line of defence for key healthcare and other essential workers, the Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food heard.
While the risk of avian flu in Ireland was low, the Departments of Health and Agriculture were working on prevention and setting up contingency measures in the event of an outbreak.
Teresa Cody, Department of Health, said the vaccine against the present strain was being developed and would not be available possibly until September.
"We have entered into an arrangement to buy a limited supply for 200,000 people, for key workers, in the event that avian flu appears in this country," she said.
However, in the event of a pandemic where the avian flu mutated and could be transmitted between humans, a vaccine could only be manufactured once the new strain emerged.
Ms Cody said it was anticipated it would take four to six months from the time a new flu strain emerged to develop and manufacture a vaccine.
The department was therefore also pursuing an advanced purchase order for a pandemic strain vaccine, Ms Cody said.
Gavin Maguire, HSE, said they were working on plans for a worse case scenario. "There is no way of predicting if the avian flu virus will turn into the next pandemic." The worse case scenario of a pandemic would be that a mutation of the virus from human to human would mean 200,000 people could fall ill in the State.
Séamus Healy, Department of Agriculture, said a series of measures had been put in place including bans on the importation of poultry from affected countries; on captive and pet birds from outside the EU; on the collection of poultry for poultry markets and other events.
Other steps include a range of measures aimed at reducing the risk of transmission from wild birds to poultry and an early detection system; registration of all individuals and companies keeping domestic poultry or who own, handle or trade in poultry; and a publicity campaign.
Dr Darina O'Flanagan, director of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre said properly cooked poultry meat and eggs were safe to consume.