No bird flu detected in Irish cattle and sheep population

Cattle, sheep and other ruminants in Ireland have tested negative for bird flu, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has said.

His comments come as highly pathogenic avian influenza continues to occur in dairy herds in the US.

Ireland leads the One Health All Ireland for European Surveillance (OH-ALLIES) project, the Minister said.

One of the objectives of this project is to establish infrastructure and processes allowing enhanced surveillance of influenza in Ireland.

“Several surveillance studies are being conducted to monitor avian influenza infections across a range of wild mammals and domestic animals, including cattle and other ruminants,” the Minister said in response to a parliamentary question from Dublin TD Robert O’Donoghue.

“Thus far, the project has completed over 3,600 influenza A tests in wild mammals, domestic animals and the environment. To date, only antibodies have been detected in wild mammals, with no evidence of active viral infection,” he said.

Bird flu in foxes

In 2021-2022, Ireland confirmed the first cases of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza in two foxes using molecular diagnostic methods, the Minister said.

“The viral sequence identified in the foxes showed a high degree of similarity to that of the H5N1 strain detected in a barnacle goose collected next to the foxes.

“In cattle, sheep and other ruminants, neither antibodies nor avian influenza viral RNA have been detected, therefore there are no indications of avian influenza exposure or infection in these populations,” he said.