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Bird flu: NI avian flu surveillance zones to be lifted

PA Media chickensPA Media
More than 86,000 birds have been culled since the disease was first confirmed in December

The last two remaining avian influenza surveillance zones in Northern Ireland will be lifted this weekend.

Since the disease was first confirmed in December, five outbreaks have been detected.

More than 86,000 birds have had to be culled across four commercial sites, and in one backyard flock.

The Department of Agriculture and Environment (Daera) said the whole of Northern Ireland remained under a housing order.

The order means all flock owners must maintain strict biosecurity measures.

At the height of the outbreak, in Aughnacloy, Broughshane, Armagh, Coagh and Ballinderry, the agriculture minister told the Stormont Assembly it was the worst ever seen in the UK.

It began in October 2021, when cases were confirmed in England. There have now been 81 confirmed cases across the UK.

No cases have been detected in Northern Ireland since December 2021.

Waterworks Park
The Waterworks Park in Belfast was closed but has since reopened

The disease was also confirmed in wild birds at a number of locations, with more than 50 dying at the Waterworks Park in Belfast.

It closed to the public but has since reopened.

Where wild birds are affected, it is up to landowners to look after their welfare.

Daera has responsibility for commercial and privately owned flocks, which must be licensed.

The remaining Protection Zones were at a site in Ballinderry, County Tyrone, and an overlap into counties Tyrone and Armagh from a zone in the Republic of Ireland.

It meant restrictions on the movement of poultry, eggs and meat in and out of those areas.

They will be lifted on Saturday afternoon.

Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots thanked those in the poultry sector for helping to bring the disease under control, but warned the industry was not out of the woods yet.

"It is now vital that complacency does not set in," he said.

"Excellent biosecurity 24-7 remains the most effective way to protect individual flocks and our poultry industry from this deadly virus."

The Public Health Agency (PHA) said the risk to human health from the virus was extremely low, but people should not handle sick or dead birds.