Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 March 2022
903. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his position on vaccinating Irish poultry against avian influenza; if his Department has conducted an analysis with regard to the cost, impact or viability of such; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16606/22]
View answerGiven the scale of avian influenza outbreaks globally over recent years, this is a matter that is receiving renewed international attention.
Whilst it is recognised at that the use of an Avian Influenza vaccine could be useful in the future to help manage AI outbreaks in poultry and captive birds, it is not without significant challenges, including:
- Many non-EU countries refuse imports of live animals and food of animal origin from countries where vaccination is practised.
- There is currently no way to distinguish the antibody response to vaccination from that of infection
- Vaccinated birds may still become infected by the virus
- Circulating strains of AI vary year to year and therefore the effectiveness of any potential vaccine would be challenged by new and emerging strains. Vaccine production would need to be flexible and adaptable to protect again predominant virus strains in circulation at any one time, with financial impacts
Furthermore the source of virus spread is often wild birds, which are not amenable to vaccination. There are currently no vaccines with Irish market authorisation and vaccination in Ireland is prohibited.
My officials continue to engage with their counterparts and experts on the matter to try to find a workable solution to these issues. An evaluation of costs and benefits could be undertaken if and when the issues mentioned above have been worked through at an EU and international level.
