This article is from page 71 of the 2007-07-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 71 JPG
ALMOST two years after the first emergence of the dreaded HSNI1 Strain of bird flu, its effects are still being felt across the world.
Even though Ireland has yet to con- firm a single case of the dreaded dis- ease, the related industry and social pass-times continue to be affected on an almost daily basis.
An example of this was seen last week when the Minister for Agri- culture, Fisheries and Food, Mary Coughlan, announced an immediate ban on pigeon racing to Ireland from France and the Channel Islands.
This action was taken following the confirmation of cases of HSNI avian
‘flu in swans in the Moselle region of eastern France and a subsequent deci- sion by the French authorities to ban pigeon racing throughout France.
Minister Coughlan also confirmed that her officials had been in close contact in recent days with colleagues in the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Belfast and, given the all-island approach which the two Departments have been op- erating, said that a similar measure was also being introduced in North- ern Ireland today.
“The current ornithological advice available to the Department, from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, suggested that the recently confirmed cases in the Czech Repub-
lic, Germany and France did not sig- nificantly increase the risk to Ireland and that the overall risk of the intro- duction of HSN1 avian “flu to Ireland remained low,” she said.
‘Nonetheless, these measures are appropriate and entirely consistent with the actions taken by the French and UK authorities.”
Racing between Britain and Ireland and throughout the island will con- tinue to be permitted.
Coughlan reiterated that, notwith- standing the current low risk to Ire- land, there was no room for com- placency and she urged continued vigilance among the general public.
She strongly advised the poultry industry of the need to maintain very
high levels of biosecurity and added that a considerable amount of infor- mation and advice, for the poultry industry and the general public is available at www.birdflu.ie
Poultry flockowners have also been reminded of the grant scheme, in- troduced by Minister Coughlan’s department, for the installation of water chlorination facilities in com- mercial poultry units.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food’s helpline to which unusual patterns of wild bird or poultry mortalities should be re- ported is 1890 252283.