Bird-flu advisory group to meet today
The Government’s bird-flu advisory group is due to meet later today following the discovery of a suspected case of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus in Scotland.
British experts are currently examining samples taken from a dead swan found earlier this week in Fife.
The swan has tested positive for the H5 strain of bird flu, but it is not yet known if it is the deadly H5N1 sub-strain.
The virus, which has killed more than 100 people worldwide since late 2003, has already been found in several EU countries.
The Irish expert group is due to reassess Ireland’s preparedness for the illness today in light of the British development.
Confirmation of an outbreak in Britain would put the Irish Government under pressure to boost its emergency measures to combat the illness.
So far, live poultry imports have been banned and limits have been placed on the importation of pet birds from outside the EU.
Poultry exhibitions and shows have also been banned, while information leaflets have been published for farmers and poultry workers and Minister for Health Mary Harney has ordered 40,000 vaccines, to be used in the event of an outbreak.
Asked about the matter this morning, Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan said she had confidence in the measures already undertaken and wanted to assure consumers that it is still safe to eat poultry as long as it is properly cooked.
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