Farm cordoned off after cow death

Tests showed farms in NI were not source of outbreak

A farm in mid-Ulster remains cordoned off after a cow died from symptoms similar to foot-and-mouth disease.

An eight-kilometre exclusion zone was placed around the farm on Friday.

On Saturday, Northern Ireland's Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Bob McCracken said he was "reasonably confident" that the cow which died did not have the virus.

He said: "In relation to three pig herds we've been chasing, in relation to the one where a cow died, I get more and more optimistic each hour.

"At this moment, my opinion is that it does not look suspect but we have to wait for laboratory results."

The results of the blood test will not be known until Monday.

On Friday, Agriculture Minister Brid Rodgers said it was purely a precautionary measure as it was thought the animal died from a condition known as malignant catarrh.

She said preliminary tests for foot-and-mouth had proved negative and none of the other animals in the herd had shown indications of the disease.

Brid Rodgers is hopeful province will prove clear of disease

Meanwhile, Pat Toal from the Department of Agriculture said the public must be aware of the part they can play in preventing the spread of the disease in Northern Ireland.

Mr Toal said: "We are asking for the voluntary cessation of livestock markets and any other events involving gatherings of animals or people on farms.

"We want farmers to adopt a fortress attitude, in other words, no visitors other than essential visitors on the farm.

On Friday, tests confirmed that farms in Northern Ireland were not the source of the outbreak in England.

Mrs Rodgers said tests by her department on three farms which supplied pigs to the Essex abattoir, where the disease was first detected, had found no trace of the virus.

However, further tests are being carried out before the province can be declared free of the disease, and it will be next week before these are completed.

In the meantime, Mrs Rodgers has announced a ban on the export of cattle, sheep and pigs to Great Britain.

She has also announced a suspension of livestock sales next week and urged limited movement between farms, to reduce the risk of any infection spreading.

Countryside events planned for this weekend, including the Ulster Horse Ploughing Championships near Gilford, County Down have also been cancelled.

Import ban

The lorry which transported pigs to the English abattoir and then returned to the province with sheep, before going to the Republic of Ireland, has been taken out of circulation.

But Mrs Rodgers said that the European Commission ban on the export of animal and dairy produce from the UK, would continue to apply to Northern Ireland, until further notice.

The Irish Government, meanwhile, has banned the importation of all animal products from the United Kingdom, including the province.

Irish police and customs officers are patrolling the border to enforce it.

There has not been an outbreak of foot-and-mouth in Northern Ireland since 1941.