The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has urged poultry owners to be vigilant to the ongoing threat of bird flu.
Since July 2022, over 80 wild birds were submitted to department-run laboratories for testing. Of these, there were almost 60 positive cases for the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza subtype.
All of the birds tested, except for one, have been seabirds.
These include large number of gannets in Cork; Kerry; Mayo; Dublin; Donegal; and Louth, along with a guillemot in Donegal and a raven in Kerry.
A spokesperson for the department noted that test results were still being awaited for a small number of other wild birds.
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) said that avian influenza has been confirmed in 19 wild birds in Northern Ireland at various locations to date this year.
Poultry owners and keepers of captive birds are being urged by the department to maintain the highest standards of biosecurity to protect their flocks.
“Strict biosecurity remains the number one preventative measure to introduction of avian influenza into poultry and captive bird flocks,” a DAFM spokesperson said.
While risk of transmission to humans is considered very low, members of the public are advised not to handle sick or dead wild birds.
Due to its highly infectious nature of the disease to birds, DAFM said that anyone travelling from an area known or suspected to be affected with avian influenza or where wild birds have been found dead should not come into contact with poultry or captive birds without first cleaning and disinfecting clothing and footwear.