010435 N. Ireland Battles Spread of Foot-And-Mouth

Belfast, Northern Ireland - Northern Ireland battled to contain foot-and- mouth disease after authorities confirmed a second outbreak and probed a suspected case.

Agriculture Minister Brid Rodgers ordered a precautionary cull of more than 4,000 cattle, pigs and sheep and said the outbreak would mean a fresh European Union ban on the province's livestock product exports just a week after they had resumed.

“This development means that Northern Ireland has now lost its regional foot-and-mouth disease (free) status and with it, the ability to export susceptible animals and related products,” she told a news conference.

Her department said later that a “hot” suspected outbreak had been found on a cattle and sheep farm near Cushendall in Country Antrim on the northeast coast.

“Samples have been taken and are on their way to Pirbright (laboratory) and slaughter has already commenced on the farm,” Rodgers said in a statement

The confirmed case was found among cattle in the heart of the British-ruled province's farming country, near Cookstown in Country Tyrone -- some 50 miles from the first case reported on March 1 in South Armagh, close to the border with the Irish republic.

A Protestant marching fraternity, the Apprentice Boys of Derry, said on Saturday it was calling off traditional parades and a major rally scheduled for Monday because of the foot-and-mouth alert.

Parades by Roman Catholics in rural areas on Sunday were also expected to be called off to reduce the disease risk. It does not harm humans but can be spread on shoe soles or vehicle tires.

Downcast at the fresh flare-up six weeks after the original outbreak, Rodgers said all efforts would be focused on containing the virus and preventing its spread.

“With that objective in mind, I have authorized the immediate slaughter of all the animals remaining on the (County Tyrone) farm in question and on all the associated out-farms.”

Cattle and sheep within a one-km radius of the farm and all pigs within a two-mile radius would be destroyed.

“This is a huge setback for the whole of Northern Ireland agriculture industry and comes just at a time when our hopes were high that we might have escaped this dreadful scourge,” Rodgers added.

Further Tests Under Way

Rodgers said further urgent tests were being conducted to get final confirmation of the province's second outbreak -- following initial results that were negative and the further tests that were positive. But she was clearly resigned to the news being bad.

“I would be reluctant to hold out any real hope that this is a false alarm,” she said. “Since the disease began across the water (in England) this is the first time that a preliminary negative has turned out on the third phase of the test to be positive. It was a huge shock to everybody.”

So far the province has mostly escaped the ravages of the disease which has gripped farms on mainland Britain and spread to parts of continental Europe over the past seven weeks.

The Irish republic has had one outbreak, confirmed three weeks ago. Authorities on both sides of border have adopted rigorous “fortress farming” preventative measures to keep out the disease.

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