Fota Wildlife Park closed until further notice as bird flu cases confirmed

"Fota Wildlife Park will remain closed until further notice from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine,"

"It has mutated and it's now this year that seems to be very prevalent in game birds, a lot of pheasants and ducks contracting this year,"

"I would be very worried about the likes of this because the danger of ducks defecating on paths and people walking and students in college bringing it home to family farms."

"It's devastating. You saw in Cork we had three dead swans, but if this gets into a commercial house it can wipe out a whole flock of birds,"

Avian influenza strain H5N1 was confirmed in samples taken from captive birds that died at Fota Wildlife Park. Fota Wildlife Park remains closed until further notice from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. A link was identified between the outbreak and three dead geese in the park, with a fourth goose showing symptoms out of a flock of 20. Veterinary investigators are likely to carry out a risk assessment and may impose either a 3 km protection zone or a 10 km exclusion zone as a precaution. Mutated H5N1 is prevalent in game birds and poses a high risk of transmission from public spaces to commercial farms, with potential to devastate poultry flocks as seen in prior outbreaks.

Read at Irish Independent