Ireland to ban some British poultry imports-RTE
05 Feb 2007 13:52:10 GMT
DUBLIN, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Ireland has decided to ban imports of poultry coming from Britain for agricultural "gatherings and shows", RTE radio reported on Monday after an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in eastern England.
RTE said imports from British-ruled Northern Ireland would not be affected by the ban. The Department of Agriculture said it would issue a statement shortly.
Mary Coughlan, Ireland's agriculture minister, said during media interviews over the weekend that the geographical proximity of latest case of avian flu had increased the risk of an outbreak of the highly pathogenic strain in Ireland.
She stressed, however, that the overall threat remained low given Britain's response -- including a cull of 160,000 turkeys and -- and said then that current measures to protect against an Irish outbreak should be adequate.
Ireland had already imposed a number of safety measures, including a wild bird surveillance programme, after other outbreaks of the disease in more distant parts of Europe.
05 Feb 2007 13:52:10 GMT
DUBLIN, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Ireland has decided to ban imports of poultry coming from Britain for agricultural "gatherings and shows", RTE radio reported on Monday after an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in eastern England.
RTE said imports from British-ruled Northern Ireland would not be affected by the ban. The Department of Agriculture said it would issue a statement shortly.
Mary Coughlan, Ireland's agriculture minister, said during media interviews over the weekend that the geographical proximity of latest case of avian flu had increased the risk of an outbreak of the highly pathogenic strain in Ireland.
She stressed, however, that the overall threat remained low given Britain's response -- including a cull of 160,000 turkeys and -- and said then that current measures to protect against an Irish outbreak should be adequate.
Ireland had already imposed a number of safety measures, including a wild bird surveillance programme, after other outbreaks of the disease in more distant parts of Europe.