The Health Service Executive (HSE) has urged people not to “handle or touch” sick or dead wild birds and also to keep pets away from them to protect against avian influenza (bird flu).
According to the HSE, it expects people to start spending more time outdoors as the weather improves and because of this it wants them to be aware of the risks posed by bird flu.
The HSE said there have been “larger and more frequent” outbreaks of bird flu in wild birds and poultry than previously experienced in Europe.
Dr. Éamonn O’Moore, director of the HSE’s national health protection service, has stressed that transmission of viruses to humans are rare events.
“Thankfully, to date, no bird flu virus infection-causing illness was observed in the European Union or European Economic Area countries.
“But infection could occur and has been reported in other countries. People at risk are mainly those in direct contact handling diseased birds or poultry, or their carcasses (e.g. farmers, veterinarians and labourers involved in the culling and rendering), as well as those exposed to contaminated environments,” Dr. O’Moore added.
In general, the HSE is also advising people not to pick up or touch dead or sick wild birds, and to also keep pets away from them.
“People should also avoid contact with surfaces contaminated with bird faeces and should not handle bird feathers they find in the wild,” Dr. O’Moore added.
“It is always best practice in general, to regularly wash hands with soap and water or to clean your hands with alcohol-based hand gel when out in the wild.”
According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control the situation regarding bird flu “continues to evolve in Europe and globally” with reports of new outbreaks in birds and occasional infections in mammals.
The European centre said that highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses have caused an increase of cases in wild birds, particularly in gulls, in the EU and continue to cause occasional infections in mammals.
However, the number of outbreaks in poultry between December 2022 and March 2023 in the EU has decreased from its high point in November 2022.
“Sporadic human infections have been reported in countries outside the EU, while the risk to the public in the EU remains low,” the centre stated.