France has become the seventh EU country to report a confirmed case of avian flu.
Tests on a duck which died in the east of the country showed it had the virus, although further tests are to be carried out to confirm that it was the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease.
The H5N1 strain has killed at least 91 people around the world.
The chairman of the IFA poultry committee, Ned Morrissey, said tonight that poultry producers here are already on the alert to avoid any exposure of their flocks to avian flu.
Mr Morrissey said the highest levels of biosecurity are in operation where flocks are housed in this country.
