It had been widely speculated that the strain found in the wigeon duck was indeed the H5N8 strain.
In a statement on Monday, the Department of Agriculture confirmed this. The Department has again moved to reassure the general public.
“As previously advised, the health protection surveillance centre has confirmed that the risk to humans is considered to be very low,” it said.
This is the first case of bird flu to be found in Ireland since 2012.
Third outbreak
A third outbreak in Britain of the highly pathogenic disease was discovered last Friday in a flock of chickens and ducks in Yorkshire.
Compulsory housing
Last week, IFA poultry committee chair Nigel Renaghan said the Department of Agriculture needs to take the lead on bird flu in Ireland.
The Department had introduced legislation to force all birds to be housed in the wake of bird flu, but Renaghan said: “There has been no official correspondence from the Department to poultry farmers in Ireland regarding this legislation.”
Europe
Over 500 cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza have been reported across the EU in poultry and wild birds since outbreaks of the disease first appeared in late October.