Garda sources say that they are significantly closer to establishing a link between the outbreak of foot and mouth in Meigh, County Armagh, and the case in Proleek last week. Meanwhile, County Louth anxiously awaits the results from Purbright of a second suspect case. Some 135 sheep have been buried on the farm of Tony Keenan at Riverstown. In the Dáil earlier, the Minister for Agriculture, Joe Walsh, said that he was encouraged and relieved at the results of tests carried out on animals from Wexford, Laois and Waterford. Preliminary results show they are negative. Mr Walsh told the Dáil that in the light of continuing infection in Britain and the Netherlands the Republic of Ireland had to remain in a state of high alert.
Meanwhile, the Stormont Agriculture Minister, Brid Rodgers, has said that the cull of 2,500 healthy sheep from the 3km zone around Meigh in South Armagh is underway. Ms Rodgers said that the carcasses would be rendered. The cull had been delayed by talks on a number of issues such as compensation payments. It was postponed after local farmers protested over the proposed use of a local beauty spot as their burial ground. Last night, over 150 farmers attended a meeting near Newry to discuss the situation.
The negative results in the Republic were on sheep from the meat plant in Camolin, in County Wexford, a farm in Anneston in County Waterford and a farm at Durrow in County Laois. Tests from a meat plant in Bunclody and a second farm in County Louth are not expected until tomorrow.
An Air Corp helicopter has been brought in to the Cooley Mountains to assist army rangers in an operation to round up and shoot wild goats in the 10km zone surrounding the foot and mouth outbreak. The helicopter is involved in a sweep of the mountain area and several rangers on the ground have been shooting goats since 10am this morning. Department of Agriculture officials are continuing to cull animals in the Riverstown area adjacent to the farm of Tony Keenan, where last night's suspect foot and mouth case was identified.
The Department of Agriculture is sending further meat samples from County Louth for tests at a laboratory in Britain, amid growing fears that a second outbreak foot and mouth disease may be confirmed here. The samples were taken from sheep on a farm just inside the 10km-exclusion zone surrounding Proleek, the scene of the only outbreak so far.
The Taoiseach has told the Dáil that the clinical signs on the samples taken from sheep in the latest foot and mouth threat in County Louth were strong, but were also different from the samples in last week's case. Mr Ahern said that if foot and mouth disease is confirmed on the second farm the control zone will not need to be extended as the latest farm is beside the Rice farm and both families are related. Bertie Ahern assured Fine Gael leader Michael Noonan that plans are in place to ring-fence the farms if foot and mouth is found at any other locations where investigations are continuing.
As Department of Agriculture officials were continuing their extended surveillance yesterday of the land surrounding the farm in Proleek, where the first case of foot and mouth was confirmed, they discovered a number of unhealthy sheep, at Piedmont in Riverstown which gave them cause for concern. The flock of sheep, which were found at the foothills of the Cooley Mountains, were within the 10km exclusion zone surrounding the Rice family farm at Proleek and were immediately destroyed. Samples were taken and sent to the International Foot and Mouth Laboratory in Surrey.
While officials await the results which are expected tomorrow, they say that this case is the most serious they have investigated this week. It did not however create the same level of concern that was immediately caused when the Proleek farm was first discovered last week. If this is confirmed as a second outbreak of the disease, a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture said it could lead to the destruction of the 40,000 sheep on the Cooley Peninsula and a further 7,000 cattle.
