A sixth case of avian influenza (bird flu) has been confirmed in Ireland, this time in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, after a whooper swan tested positive for the H5N8 strain.
It is the second case of the disease to be found in Tipperary in recent weeks and the fourth to be identified in a whooper swan.
The news comes after Northern Ireland this week declared that bird flu had been found in the country, in a wild swan in Derry.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, continues to warn poultry owners and backyard flock owners to confine their birds indoors, to prevent the risk of the disease spreading.
Poultry flocks across the country are at risk from introduction of the virus, so flocks should be kept inside to prevent the introduction of bird flu.
The birds must be confined in a secure building to which wild birds, or other animals do not have access.
Department staff are continuing to collect sufficient birds for testing to help understand how the disease is distributed geographically, in different species and over time.
Further information on avian influenza can be found on the Department’s website, where there is also advice on handling dead wild birds.