The high density of poultry units across counties Cavan and Monaghan increases the chances of the H5N1 strain of bird flu spreading there when compared with other areas of the country, according to the Irish Farmers' Association’s (IFA) poultry chair Nigel Sweetnam.

Sweetnam warned that pools of water created by recent rains were further exacerbating the risk for poultry growers, as wild birds come closer into contact with housed poultry when these ponds are present on lands.

Biosecurity was farmers’ main line of defence in staving off the avian influenza virus, which was identified by the Department of Agriculture in a flock of turkeys in Co Monaghan, Sweetnam told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“Ponds are bringing wild fowl closer to units. In Cavan and Monaghan, there are a lot of lakes as well. This doesn’t help keeping birds away,” he said.

'Luckier'

“We are a bit luckier in this part of the country [Co Cork] in that we are physically isolated, we don’t have the same number of houses around.”

A protection zone of 3km has been introduced around the case site in Monaghan and will remain in place for at least 21 days after the preliminary cleaning and disinfection of the infected holding.

Another 10km-wide surveillance zone is to be kept in place for at least 30 days after the preliminary cleaning and disinfection of the infected holding.

What must farmers in these zones do?

Farmers located within the protective zones must apply to their local regional veterinary office should they wish to apply for a license to move poultry, eggs, bird carcases, manure or other livestock from the site of their unit.

They must operate an all-in all-out policy if restocking under license.

Only essential visitors should be permitted to access units and, on arrival, registration numbers, driver names, dates and times must be noted by the flock owner.

It is not yet knwon if the Monaghan case is of a highly pathogenic strain. / Philip Doyle

Vehicles used to transport live birds, carcases, slurry, manure, feed and bedding must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected after each use.

The Department must be notified of any increase in bird mortality or sickness, as should be the case with any drop in egg production.

Flock owners must also report suspected cases immediately to their local regional veterinary office.

Mental health

Sweetnam stated that the impact of bird flu outbreaks in the poultry sector on the mental wellbeing of farmers should not be overlooked, as the sector will look to count the potential costs of destocking.

“We are as worried about farmers’ mental wellbeing as any financial cost this will have,” the Co Cork poultry farmer said.

“Guys are constantly looking over their shoulders and worrying. We have seen there were cases in the UK where units were showering before [entering poultry housing] and keeping dedicated clothing for each house - it still got in.”

Sweetnam has been pushing for the suspension of all unnecessary visits to all poultry units until the risk of H5N1 avian flu diminishes.

‘Nothing new’

Co Kildare chicken, turkey and goose farmer Billy Gray told the Irish Farmers Journal that while the finding of N5N1 bird flu inside a poultry unit was concerning, the disease was nothing new and had been responsible for destocking in 2021.

Gray also recognised that his location in Co Kildare was an advantage to avoiding the disease when compared with producers based along the border.

“We start out turkeys to coincide with Christmas, there is nothing we can do to take them out earlier. Biosecurity is all we have,” he said.

“Our main concern is where our customers will go if we do go down, the birds will have be found somewhere. But this is nothing new. Last year, we had COVID-19 in the news so people didn’t hear about bird flu.”

On turkey supplies leading up to Christmas, Gray believed that the higher production costs forcing out smaller players in the sector had a bigger impact on supply than destocking in other parts of Europe so far.

Less geese

The poultry farmer reckoned that the supply of geese had been impacted more by destocking in recent weeks and months across the continent.

“With the turkeys, it is tough to know how much numbers have been cut in Italy, eastern Europe and that,” he added.

“We are not self-sufficient in turkey at all. There are higher prices and even the transport costs are gone up, they will have to see how viable it is in these other countries to ship all the way to Ireland.”

In the long term, Gray hoped the development of a vaccine to protect commercial flocks against avian influenza strains would be possible.