A number of countries have restrictions in place on Irish poultry imports.

There were a number of confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in commercial flocks in November and December 2025 in Ireland.

This resulted in the temporary loss of Ireland’s World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) HPAI disease-free status.

A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has said a number of countries imposed restrictions on the export of Irish poultry, including Hong Kong, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and South Africa.

"These suspensions were primarily focused on product coming from the counties which had experienced a confirmed case in a commercial flock," the department spokesperson told Agriland.

Five outbreaks of HPAI were confirmed on poultry premises in Ireland during 2025.

Outbreaks were confirmed in turkey fattening flocks in counties Carlow, Meath, Monaghan, Laois and Cavan late last year.

Ireland now free from HPAI

The WOAH published Ireland’s self-declaration of freedom from HPAI recently, with an effective date of January 1, 2026.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon said this publication means that Ireland has regained its status regarding 'Freedom from HPAI'.

"It is a real credit to our poultry industry and my department, and I want to acknowledge the effort involved in reaching this point," the minister said.

"Unfortunately, we're still in the high-risk period and I want to remind all stakeholders to remain vigilant," he said.

Despite Ireland regaining this status, Minister Heydon highlighted the importance of continuing to comply with measures currently in place.

The department told Agriland in recent days that it is writing to the competent authorities of the countries that imposed restrictions to advise them of this development, its status regarding 'Freedom from HPAI'.

As of January 30, Singapore is the only country to have partially lifted the suspension, the department said.

No bird flu outbreaks in 2026

There have been no outbreaks of HPAI detected in Ireland in 2026 to date.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's (DAFM) National Disease Control Centre (NDCC) said that that HPAI continues to circulate in wild birds nationwide across Ireland.

Contact with wild birds and environmental contamination remain "major risks for HPAI incursions", the NDCC warned.