The case has been discovered in a duck – a wigeon – in Co Galway, the Department of Agriculture confirmed on Friday evening.

This is the second case of avian influenza, or bird flu, to be discovered in Ireland. The disease was found in another wigeon in Co Wexford just after Christmas.

The Department confirmed the strain to be the H5N8.

Third case in poultry in UK

Last Friday, the UK confirmed its third case of H5N8 in a poultry flock. The outbreak was identified in a small flock of chickens and ducks near Settle in North Yorkshire, less than 40km inland from the Irish sea. The British authorities have culled the birds in the flock and established restrictions around the farm.

Housing

Since 23 December 2016, all poultry farmers in Ireland have been required under legislation to house their flock in order to minimise the risk of poultry coming into contact with wild birds.

However, the Department has said it will not be checking poultry farms for compliance with the housing legislation, adding that "responsibility for compliance lies with the owners of the birds".

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Nigel Renaghan, IFA poultry committee chair, reiterated the concern he expressed last week that the Department is not communicating directly with bird owners.

"The Department says it has a database of registered backyard flocks but that means there are also flocks that are not registered," he said.

"Department officials are going to have to find other ways of communicating with these bird owners because backyard flocks pose a massive threat to the commercial flocks," Renaghan continued. "The Department should also be driving home the importance of housing and general biosecurity on poultry farms on a constant basis via social media and other media until the threat is lifted."

Compensation

The Department of Agriculture met with stakeholders in the poultry industry last week to discuss compensation options for farmers in the event that birds would have to be culled. A source from the meeting told the Irish Farmers Journal that the Department is commissioning a company in the UK to create a set of compensation values for stock in the event of a forced bird cull. The source added that the industry is pushing for these values to be finalised before an outbreak hits commercial flocks.

Since the first case of the current H5N8 outbreak was identified in Hungary on 28 October, thousands of wild birds and poultry have had to be culled across mainland Europe and the UK.

Additional reporting by Amy Fitzgibbon

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