Suspected bird flu outbreak in Tyrone

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, has urged all poultry keepers and bird owners to maintain the highest standards of biosecurity following a suspected outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in a large poultry flock in Omagh, Co Tyrone.

“As we enter into the winter months, the risk of avian influenza becomes higher,” Minister Heydon said. “My message for anybody who has poultry or kept birds is clear: please take strict precautions and exercise the highest standards of biosecurity to protect your flocks and the wider poultry sector. We know that this virus has been found this year in wild birds across Ireland. Biosecurity is the single most effective way to prevent the virus spreading from wild birds into poultry.”

The Minister expressed his support for Northern Ireland’s Agriculture Minister, Andrew Muir, and his department as they respond to the suspected outbreak. “My Department is in regular and close communication with our counterparts in Northern Ireland and is keeping this situation under ongoing review,” he said.

Mr Heydon also reminded poultry owners that it is a legal requirement to register all flocks, regardless of size, with his Department. “It is vital that all poultry holdings are registered, whether commercial farms or small backyard flocks. Registration is essential to help protect poultry flocks and farmers’ livelihoods from the potential impacts of this disease.”

So far in 2025, 41 cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza have been confirmed in wild birds across Ireland, all but one identified as H5N1. A single outbreak in a small captive bird flock occurred in Co Donegal in July.

The Department has advised the public not to handle sick or dead wild birds. Any such findings should be reported to the nearest Regional Veterinary Office or, outside office hours, to the National Disease Emergency Hotline at 01 492 8026.

Further information, including technical updates, is available at www.gov.ie/birdflu, while details on how to register a poultry flock can be found at Poultry Register.