Farmers in the North went to sleep last night fearing their industry would return to a state of disaster.
Those living around the possibly foot-and-mouth infected farm in Co Tyrone knew that if the disease was to be confirmed it would be devastating, and they were astonished it could have happened.
A neighbour of the family involved said the prospect of another outbreak of the disease was "scary, it could just wipe out from here to the lough".
Although not a farmer himself, he said he had followed the news and said: "You'd wonder how it came here. I mean we sit here in the middle of the North."
If the disease is confirmed, this question will be echoed in veterinary labs, government offices and fields throughout Ireland.
Even before the first outbreak was announced at Meigh in south Armagh almost six weeks ago, journalists and locals knew smuggled sheep were involved. The second case in Proleek was only a few kilometres from the first.
In the case of Ardboe, there would be no easy explanation for the outbreak, certainly not one anybody could be comfortable with.
Ardboe is about 40 miles from Meigh. Neighbours defended the farmer involved, saying he was "not dodgy at all, he's a gentleman".
The animals involved are believed to be part of a herd of 200 dairy Holsteins which he reared himself.
A cluster of the farm's outbuildings border a busy road used by those travelling between the North's two motorways. Buses, cars and construction traffic rumble past its gates all day.
Had traffic spread the virus? Birds? The wind? The major concern for politicians who came to the scene was that if the disease had travelled from Meigh to mid-Ulster in a single bound nowhere was safe.
Cllr Patsy McGlone of the SDLP said people in the area were "full of fear and trepidation. In one case a fellow's grandmother rang him in tears for the animals that would have to be put down."
Mr Francie Molloy MLA, Sinn Fein, Mid-Ulster, said farming was a vital part of the infrastructure. "To have an outbreak here would just be devastating," he said.
He said he and his colleagues on the Assembly's agriculture committee had warned people to stay vigilant to the risks posed by the disease.
Even in the event the result was negative, the battle was far from over, he said. "Once the cattle start moving out of their housing and onto the land we will see the real test of the restrictions, and I think it is too early to start to talk about lifting restrictions."
In a florist's cabin on the forecourt of a long-closed filling station less than 300 metres from the farm, the owner said most of her business came from the passing trade travelling along the road. "If that road's closed I don't know what I'll do," she said. Outside the farm yesterday evening police and agriculture department vets waiting in their cars were just as much in the dark as the reporters and cameramen.
Some of these had dressed in white disposable clothing prompting one constable to say "the Martians have landed".
In a field opposite, a newborn lamb lay beside its mother basking in the fading light of the evening sun, possibly the last it would ever see.