Bird Flu/Ireland: The Health Service Executive said yesterday it was continuing to monitor all developments in relation to the spread of bird flu after it was confirmed that swans in Italy had the deadly H5N1 strain.
Asked if special controls would be put in place at Irish airports now that bird flu has spread to Italy and Greece as well as Nigeria - countries to and from which there would be a lot of passenger traffic - the HSE said it was important to note there was still no evidence of human to human transmission of bird flu.
"Any new developments will have a bearing on our contingency planning," the spokesman said.
A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture said as part of its contingency planning it was continuing to register poultry flocks across the State. It added there was still no ban on travel to countries were avian flu had been detected but passengers travelling to affected regions were advised not to visit poultry farms.
Anyone who did so should report to the Department of Agriculture's office at the airport on their return.
"There are no bans on travel yet and no additional precautions at airports but we will be monitoring the situation and will be guided by the scientific knowledge from the European scientific steering committee," he said.
Wildlife enthusiast Éanna Ní Lamhna said people in Ireland should not be afraid that bird flu would be brought here by birds migrating from Nigeria.
"Our migratory birds come to us from the other side of the equator, from south of the equator and Nigeria is north of the equator," she said.
She added that when migrating birds move north from Africa they fly first to Gibraltar, Spain and France and therefore the Republic was likely to be forewarned if they posed a risk.
"We would not be the first to receive them," Ms Ní Lamhna said.
"Until we see bird flu coming up along those routes we should not be worried about it in Ireland," she added.