Department now checking 649 farms for foot-and-mouth

There are now 649 farms under inspection in the State as a precaution against the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. This is an increase of 82 since last Tuesday.

However the latest foot and mouth results on sheep in Louth and Carlow have proved negative.

One hundred and seventy six sheep were slaughtered in Roscommon this morning as a precaution, the Department of Agriculture confirmed.

It is believed the animals were in contact with the stomach contents, spread as fertiliser, of a suspect flock.

Three thousand sheep and cattle have now been culled in six different locations in the Republic.