A compulsory housing order for all poultry and captive birds has come into effect country wide in a bid to reduce the threat of the highly pathogenic bird flu.
From Monday, poultry and captive birds must be housed or confined in such a manner that they do not have access to other poultry, captive birds, or wild birds.
The measure, which applies to commercial flock owners as well as those with small “backyard flocks”, including free-range egg producers and pet bird keepers, aims to reduce the opportunity for contact with potentially infected wild birds.
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said reducing this opportunity for contact is “crucial as this is one of the main ways in which the virus can spread”.
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It comes as outbreaks of the disease were confirmed at two separate commercial turkey flocks in Co Meath and Co Carlow last week.
Restriction zones have been established around the affected holdings, comprising a 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone.
The outbreaks prompted the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) to call for “laser-like focus on biosecurity” from poultry owners in order to protect their birds.
Fota Wildlife Park in Cork, meanwhile, is set to remain closed until the end of the month after an outbreak was detected on October 13th.
The Department of Agriculture has been co-operating with its equivalent in Northern Ireland, where similar restrictions are now in place following several outbreaks.
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Mr Heydon said the housing order is being implemented to “reduce the threat to our industry and to our poultry farmers.”
The housing order is in addition to strict new biosecurity regulations for poultry which were introduced at the start of November in response to the increased risk posed to Irish poultry flocks.
While the risk posed to humans is low, the department has advised members of the public not to handle sick or dead wild birds.
