Strict rules to prevent a lethal toxin which is carried on the hides of cattle and sheep from entering the food chain at Irish meat plants are to be introduced shortly. A new ministerial order will mean that cattle and sheep with dirty hides will be turned away from meat factories and will not be processed because of the danger to public health.
Faeces from cattle hides has been identified as the source of Ecoli 0157 which led to the deaths of a number of 12 people last year.
Strict new hygiene regulations have been introduced in Scotland which bans the processing of animals presented at meat plants in a dirty condition.
The industry here is moving to introduce similar regulations to assure consumers at home and abroad that the new pathogen, also responsible for a number of deaths in the US, cannot get into the food chain.
A spokesman for the Minister for Agriculture said at the weekend that the matter of "dirty cattle" was receiving priority attention because it was a public health issue.
"We are aware of the difficulties which may arise if there is cross-contamination of meat from dirty hides. Our veterinary staff at meat plants and abattoirs are on the alert."
He added that the whole slaughtering process, including where the hide was removed from an animal and the condition of the hide when the animal was presented, was under review.
The president of the Irish Veterinary Union, Ms Ann Scanlon, said the new regulations covering the banning of "dirty cattle" would be of great assistance to vets working in meat plants.
"It will highlight to the farmers and the factories that vets do have the right under public health regulations to ban such cattle if they think they may cause a risk," she said.
She said the level of Ecoli0157 in Irish cattle was unknown but one survey of heifers in Northern Ireland found that 70 per cent of the herd carried the toxin.
"We know it is not normally found in fresh faeces which might be passed from animal to animal in transport, but when you have cattle coming out of sheds where there is a build-up of matted manure, then it is possible to find it.
"Our job is to ensure that it does not get into the food chain."
A spokesman for the Irish Farmers' Association said his organisation welcomed the new regulations which will be circulated to farmers in beef production.
"We do not have a problem here because most of our animals come off grass and are clean, but there can be problems in animals coming out of sheds."
He said the Department would be circulating a chart indicating four levels of clean and dirty hides on cattle and sheep.
A spokesman for the Irish Meat Association, representing the factories, said the association also supported the latest moves to protect public health.
"Our feeling is, however, that it is up to farmers to present their animals in a clean state so they can be processed without difficulty," he said.
The new regulations will be incorporated into the national beef quality assurance scheme which is aimed at assuring consumers that animals are reared in a drug-free, welfare-friendly environment.