There is no evidence of human health risks associated with the consumption of poultry meat products and eggs.
That's according to Dr Paul Corkery who is the Head of National Disease Control Centre at the Department of Agriculture.
His comments follow concerns voiced by local producers who fear that consumers will not want to eat their poultry products this Christmas due to the negative publicity surrounding the recent bird flu outbreak.
Earlier this week, over 3,000 birds were culled on a commercial farm in Co. Monaghan, after the virus was confirmed by officials from the Department of Agriculture.
Speaking to Northern Sound, Dr Paul Corkery said the outbreak does not cause serious health risks to the general public and should not be treated an as issue of any sort.
He went on to commend the industry both North and South of the border for the controls they are putting in place to safely contain the current outbreak, adding that he for one, will be looking forward to tucking into some turkey on Christmas Day:
