Harney in Vienna for EU talks on bird flu prevention
The Tánaiste and Health Minister, Mary Harney, is due to meet her EU counterparts in Vienna today to discuss Europe's efforts to combat bird flu.
The discussions will focus on what measures can be taken to prevent the virus from infecting poultry stocks and human beings.
The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has already been detected in migratory birds in several EU countries, but it has not yet affected domestic flocks.
However, France is investigating a suspected case at a poultry farm in the south-east of the country.
Bird flu has killed more than 90 people, almost all of them in Asia, since it first emerged in Vietnam and Thailand two-and-a-half years ago.
All the victims have contracted the illness from sick or dead birds, but experts believe it could become transmittable among humans and could spark an influenza pandemic.
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