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Dept will not issue test results on Navan pigeons
Paul Murphy
John Feeney
THE Department of Agriculture has said that it will not be issuing the results of tests on dozens of pigeons found dead or dying on some of Navan?s main streets last week, despite heightened concerns about the avian flu outbreak on a farm in England.
The mystery of why the birds died had still not been cleared up yesterday (Tuesday). The Department said that its animal health and welfare section had received dead birds from Navan but ruled out the issuing of the results of tests.
A spokesperson said that it did not comment on individual cases. It received many reports of dead birds on a daily basis and would not be in a position to issue test results of all samples it had examined, a spokesperson said.
Shoppers in the Trimgate Street-Ludlow Street area of Navan reported incidents of pigeons falling dead from rooftops last week. Pigeons were also seen falling from buildings and then dying in the streets.
Meath County Council said that, as part of a routine patrol by one of its environmental patrol officers, a bird was seen in a distressed state at Market Square last Wednesday. Later in the day, during a foot patrol, the same officer saw three dead birds outside a premises at the top of Trimgate Street.
Several distressed passers-by called the Meath Chronicle offices on Wednesday afternoon to report the sight of dead and dying birds. Some claimed that a number of birds had been dumped into litter bins.
A further four dead birds
were found in the New Corn Market and Convent Road areas of the town on Monday of this week.
The council made contact with the animal welfare section of the Department of Agriculture in relation to the incident and a vet from the Department examined the birds last Thursday.
They were then taken to the State Laboratories at Abbotstown in Dublin for further examination to establish the cause of death. The council said that it expected to be
advised by the Department of Agriculture as soon as results of the examinations were available.
A council spokeswoman said it was believed that the birds were originally roosting in a neighbouring bell tower until renovations took place and that they now roosted on the roof of the Allied Irish Bank branch of Trimgate Street.
Meath County Council could assist with removal of dead birds from public places, urban centres and beaches in the case of an outbreak of avian flu, director of services, Brendan McGrath, told councillors at their monthly county council meeting on Monday.
The other ways in which the council could assist were in closure of roads with the introduction of a three kilometre exclusion zone, provision of machinery and manpower and recovery of birds from water. Civil Defence wardens would have the necessary training to use birds for this.
The risk of bird flu was relatively small yet required a measured and cautious approach, said Mr McGrath. He outlined the ?negligible risk? to human health and only a slightly increased risk of spread to domestic poultry, he said.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fail TD for Meath West, Johnny Brady, said that public confidence must be protected in chicken and turkey products following the avian flu outbreak in Britain.
He said that, as chairperson of the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee, he had requested the Department of Agriculture to report to the committee on the issue of bird flu. He said he wanted the Department to inform people of the controls and regulations put in place by the Department of Agriculture to ensure that bird flu did not spread to this country.
?The Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, and this Government have led the way in enforcing robust food safety standards and are able to respond quickly and effectively when there is a problem. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the UK Food Standards Agency have been clear that the current outbreak does not pose any food safety risk for consumers,? he said.
Dept will not issue test results on Navan pigeons
Paul Murphy
John Feeney
THE Department of Agriculture has said that it will not be issuing the results of tests on dozens of pigeons found dead or dying on some of Navan?s main streets last week, despite heightened concerns about the avian flu outbreak on a farm in England.
The mystery of why the birds died had still not been cleared up yesterday (Tuesday). The Department said that its animal health and welfare section had received dead birds from Navan but ruled out the issuing of the results of tests.
A spokesperson said that it did not comment on individual cases. It received many reports of dead birds on a daily basis and would not be in a position to issue test results of all samples it had examined, a spokesperson said.
Shoppers in the Trimgate Street-Ludlow Street area of Navan reported incidents of pigeons falling dead from rooftops last week. Pigeons were also seen falling from buildings and then dying in the streets.
Meath County Council said that, as part of a routine patrol by one of its environmental patrol officers, a bird was seen in a distressed state at Market Square last Wednesday. Later in the day, during a foot patrol, the same officer saw three dead birds outside a premises at the top of Trimgate Street.
Several distressed passers-by called the Meath Chronicle offices on Wednesday afternoon to report the sight of dead and dying birds. Some claimed that a number of birds had been dumped into litter bins.
A further four dead birds
were found in the New Corn Market and Convent Road areas of the town on Monday of this week.
The council made contact with the animal welfare section of the Department of Agriculture in relation to the incident and a vet from the Department examined the birds last Thursday.
They were then taken to the State Laboratories at Abbotstown in Dublin for further examination to establish the cause of death. The council said that it expected to be
advised by the Department of Agriculture as soon as results of the examinations were available.
A council spokeswoman said it was believed that the birds were originally roosting in a neighbouring bell tower until renovations took place and that they now roosted on the roof of the Allied Irish Bank branch of Trimgate Street.
Meath County Council could assist with removal of dead birds from public places, urban centres and beaches in the case of an outbreak of avian flu, director of services, Brendan McGrath, told councillors at their monthly county council meeting on Monday.
The other ways in which the council could assist were in closure of roads with the introduction of a three kilometre exclusion zone, provision of machinery and manpower and recovery of birds from water. Civil Defence wardens would have the necessary training to use birds for this.
The risk of bird flu was relatively small yet required a measured and cautious approach, said Mr McGrath. He outlined the ?negligible risk? to human health and only a slightly increased risk of spread to domestic poultry, he said.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fail TD for Meath West, Johnny Brady, said that public confidence must be protected in chicken and turkey products following the avian flu outbreak in Britain.
He said that, as chairperson of the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee, he had requested the Department of Agriculture to report to the committee on the issue of bird flu. He said he wanted the Department to inform people of the controls and regulations put in place by the Department of Agriculture to ensure that bird flu did not spread to this country.
?The Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, and this Government have led the way in enforcing robust food safety standards and are able to respond quickly and effectively when there is a problem. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the UK Food Standards Agency have been clear that the current outbreak does not pose any food safety risk for consumers,? he said.
