Livestock disease confirmed in NI

Precautions are being taken against the virus spreading

The department of agriculture is ordering further precautionary measures following the confirmation of the first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Northern Ireland.

Within hours of the announcement, a man was arrested by the police at Banbridge in County Down on the orders of government officials investigating the foot-and-mouth crisis.

He was later released.

Police on both sides of the Irish border have been asked to look into the importation of sheep to a farm at Meigh in south Armagh.

The 21 sheep were slaughtered there on Wednesday night and their carcasses burned in a field.

Government vets have been inspecting neighbouring farms.

More than 300 sheep were imported into the province from the market near Carlisle, which has been linked to outbreaks of the disease in other parts of Britain.

Farmer's statement

The department was told they would be slaughtered immediately for the meat industry, but this did not happen.

Meanwhile, in a statement the farmer, on whose south Armagh farm some of the sheep were found, said he was co-operating fully with government officials.

In a statement issued through his solicitors Maurice Collins also denied ever "owning, transporting, buying or selling" the infected sheep found on his farm in Meigh.

The statement said he "explained fully the circumstances under which the sheep came to be present on and subsequently left his farm".

New restrictions

The authorities are still searching for the remainder of the consignment, amid fears they may be dispersed on both sides of the border.

A 10-kilometre surveillance zone and an inner three- kilometre protection zone has been placed around the south Armagh farm at the centre of the crisis.

Irish government officials are investigating whether a lorry load of lambs came from the Meigh farm to be sold to a meat plant in Roscommon.

Meanwhile, the first and deputy first ministers are expected to announce the establishment of an inter-departmental committee, to lead the fight against the disease.

It is understood the committee will meet daily to co-ordinate efforts to curb the risk of infection spreading, and minimise disruption.

New restrictions have also been placed on the movement of animals.

They include:

A ban on the movement of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and deer

A ban on farm-to-farm collection of animals for slaughter

A ban on livestock auctions and markets

A ban on the movement of horses (which can carry the disease) for at least three weeks

Extension of the temporary closure of agricultural colleges.

Agriculture minister Brid Rodgers said she would be reviewing all measures on a daily basis.

Sports minister Michael McGimpsey has banned fishing on waters under his department's control.

He has also urged all anglers to stay away from private rivers and lakes.

Brid Rodgers: Announced details of outbreak

The leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Ian Paisley, said it was vital to establish how the disease got into the province.

"The circumstances surrounding the case raises a number of important questions about the flouting of regulations which must now be subject to a inquiry," said Mr Paisley, the chairman of the assembly's agricultural committee.

"It should involve the RUC if there is the suspicion that regulations and laws were deliberately flouted."

On Wednesday night Mrs Rodgers said samples from a sheep on a farm in Castlederg, County Tyrone, were to be sent for analysis on suspicion of having the disease.

But the minister called for calm saying: "I need hardly say that this is an extremely worrying development".

Disease precaution

The president of the Ulster Farmers' Union, Douglas Rowe, said farmers now had to reinforce their safeguards.

Meanwhile, the police in the Republic of Ireland have confirmed that about 400 extra officers are to assist with border checks and disease control measures.

And about 1,300 sheep have been destroyed in County Wexford as a precaution against foot-and-mouth.

They had been imported from Devon in England.

The current outbreak of foot-and-mouth was first discovered at a farm in Essex last Monday.

Farmers had been hoping Northern Ireland could gain an all-clear status, separate from the rest of the UK, so that the province's European exports could resume.

More and more events across Northern Ireland are being cancelled or postponed because of the fear that the movements of animals or large numbers of people could help to spread the disease.