The Department of Agriculture has confirmed a case of avian influenza HPAI H5N1, commonly known as bird flu, in a white-tailed sea eagle in Co Kerry.

It is the same highly pathogenic strain already detected last week in a peregrine falcon in Co Galway.

Wild birds in Donegal and Offaly have also been confirmed positive for H5N1 on Thursday, including both mute swans and whooper swans and wild geese.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said: “It is very unfortunate that this case has been detected in such a rare bird, but I would like to commend the work of my Department’s wild bird avian influenza AI surveillance programme.

“It is important that we remain vigilant, and I would also urge that flock owners should also be watchful. We should do everything that we can to ensure that potentially infected wild birds do not have contact with domestic flocks.”

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has confirmed that although the H5N1 subtype can cause serious disease in poultry and other birds, no human infections with this virus have been reported worldwide and therefore consider the risk to humans to be very low.

Properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat.

Risk to commercial poultry

These additional findings of H5N1 in wild birds highlights the risk of introduction of avian influenza to the poultry sector.

The Department has been liaising closely with colleagues from the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The Department also remains in close contact with industry stakeholders and reiterates that strict bio-security measures are necessary to prevent the introduction of avian influenza into poultry and captive bird flocks.

Flock owners should remain vigilant for any signs of disease in their flocks and report any disease suspicion to their nearest Department Veterinary Office.