Disease risks to farm animals greater than at any stage in recent years

Irish farm animals today face threats never imagined before. Diseases such as bluetongue threaten our cattle and sheep, while avian influenza menaces our poultry farms.

Outbreaks of the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease have occurred in areas of Europe which have not seen it in many decades. In 2025, the risks to our animals are greater than at any stage in recent years.

To protect our livestock and our vital farming sector from these diseases, my Department is taking action in three ways.

Firstly, through international cooperation to identify the threats at an early stage and to support coordinated action to tackle animal diseases abroad.

Secondly, my Department is focused on keeping exotic animal diseases out of Ireland through effective import controls, awareness raising and risk-based actions.

Thirdly, we are continually working on contingency planning and preparedness, so that if an outbreak does occur, we can respond quickly and effectively to stop it spreading and regain our disease freedom.

All these actions are underpinned by close co-operation with the entire agricultural community.

The role of individual farmers is critical. Farmers can take action to reduce the risk of infection spreading to their animals. My Department provides specific advice for each of these major diseases. Good farm level biosecurity is the key to lowering the risk of disease in a herd or flock.

Thinking about where bought-in animals or imported germinal products are coming from, ensuring visitors are clean and have not been on an infected farm recently, practising simple hygiene measures, such as hand washing and boot washing, keeping risky food products off pig farms, preventing wild birds mixing with poultry, can significantly reduce the risk.

Climate change

Climate change is playing a contributory role. Viruses and insects that have historically existed in warmer climates are now able to propagate in expanded geographical areas.

For viruses spread by biting insects, higher temperatures have increased both their natural range and the length of time during the year when they are active.

Bluetongue is a case in point; this viral disease of cattle, sheep and goats is spread by biting midges and hotter summers and milder winters allow them to be active for longer spans of the calendar.

Political and civil instability is implicated in the spread of animal diseases, by making it so much harder to control an outbreak and stop onward spread.

The conflicts across North Africa and the Middle East in recent years have also seen the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, lumpy-skin disease, peste des petit ruminants, and sheep and goat pox. These diseases are exotic threats to us in Ireland, but are a daily burden across affected countries, exacerbating poverty and food insecurity. Sheep and goat pox has now spread into southeast Europe.

Wildlife can both spread diseases and also fall victim to them. African swine fever has rampaged through eastern and central Europe, spread by the movement of wild boar and infected pig meat devastating pig farming. While Ireland does not have a sustained population of feral pigs, the risk of incursion remains.

Bird flu

Avian influenza, probably the most serious of all these threats because of the potential risk to human health, can be spread by migrating wild birds, killing large numbers of them and crossing into domestic poultry flocks.

Scientists consider the most likely source of the next human pandemic would be an avian influenza virus which gains the ability to easily infect people.

The recent outbreaks in poultry in Northern Ireland, the detection of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in wild birds across the island since December, and in mammals, including sheep in Great Britain, show that this is a very real threat.

An outbreak of an exotic animal disease in Ireland could cause major losses through the direct effects on animals and also through the loss of market access for Irish animals and animal products.

The human impact could be very significant, in terms of financial losses, the emotional stress on affected farmers and the risk of human infection.

That is why it is so important for us all to work together to reduce the risk of an incursion and practice strict biosecurity. Together we can protect our livestock, our agri-food sector and our own health.