Over 7,000 turkeys are to be culled after highly pathogenic bird flu was confirmed on a turkey farm in Monaghan on Monday.

This is the third outbreak to impact an Irish turkey flock in the space of a week, following outbreaks in Carlow and Meath last week. Almost 40,000 turkeys are to be culled as a result.

Restriction zones have been established around the affected Monaghan farm, located near Clontibret, comprising of a 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone in line with national and EU legislation.

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Over 28,000 birds from a Meath farm and over 3,000 on a farm in Carlow are also in the process of being culled.

Prior to these outbreaks, November 2022 was the last time a bird flu outbreak occurred on a commercial poultry farm in Ireland.

A mandatory housing order for all poultry and captive birds took effect on Monday 10 November.

“This third outbreak underlines the ongoing risk to poultry and captive birds of avian influenza.

“We know the virus is circulating in wild birds across the country,” Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said.

“The compulsory poultry biosecurity regulations and housing order, which I have introduced, will help to mitigate the ongoing risk, but a strict and meticulous attention to biosecurity by all those who keep poultry or captive birds is the best way to protect our flocks from further outbreaks during this very challenging higher-risk winter period.

“I want to express my sympathies to the flock owners who have been affected by these outbreaks and to thank poultry keepers nationally for their continued co-operation and strong commitment to maintaining the highest standards of biosecurity.”

The Department has advised that the risk to public health from the strain of avian influenza that is circulating is very low.

Members of the public are advised not to handle sick or dead wild birds and to report sick or dead wild birds to the Department’s Avian Check app.

There is a constant risk of avian influenza being introduced into Ireland from wild birds, particularly from October onwards each year as this is when migratory birds arrive and congregate on wetlands, mixing with resident species, according to the Department.

Christmas supply

Tesco Ireland has no immediate concerns around the supply of turkeys to its stores this Christmas.

A spokesperson for the supermarket told the Irish Farmers Journalthat it continues “to monitor developments on the recent avian flu outbreak closely”.

Aldi is hoping to have a good availability of Christmas turkeys this year. “We are working hard with our suppliers to ensure we have the best availability possible across all our stores,” a spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland told the Irish Farmers Journal that it is working in partnership with its dedicated Irish suppliers to monitor the situation.

Meanwhile, Supervalu declined to comment when asked if the recent outbreaks would impact the supply of turkeys this Christmas.