Northern Ireland was holding its breath last night after the Department of Agriculture announced it would not have conclusive results of a "hot suspect" foot-and-mouth case until this morning.
A backlog of blood samples at the Pirbright Laboratory in Surrey, England, is being blamed for the delay in getting results of samples sent from a farm in Ardboe, near Cookstown, Co Tyrone.
"They are doing the testing for the UK and Republic of Ireland and we are governed by them. We cannot dictate about getting our results out first," a department official said last night.
Department of Agriculture vets visited the farm on Tuesday night and found that around 80 per cent of 20 dairy heifers showed symptoms of the disease such as blisters in their mouths and on their feet. At the time it was hoped they might be suffering a viral condition found in calves but since then, veterinary officials have confirmed they were "very concerned". The North's Agriculture Minister, Mrs Brid Rodgers, said while she was still hopeful that the results might be negative "at this point in time we must expect the worst".
"I would reinforce my advice to farmers to continue to be vigilant and to comply with the guidelines for protection against the disease," she added.
The Ulster Farmers' Union said it was "extremely concerned" at the development. It was worrying that there was no connection between the Co Tyrone alert and the North's only confirmed case of foot-and-mouth in Meigh, south Armagh, over 50 miles away, vice-president Mr John Gililand said.
Local Sinn Fein MLA Mr John Kelly said if the case was confirmed it would be a "body blow to an already beleaguered farming industry.
"It is also a very ominous indicator for the future economic well-being of the dairy, tourism, fishing and sporting activities within the mid-Ulster area."
His party colleague in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Mr Gerry McHugh, expressed fears that the suspected outbreak could threaten the North's regionalisation status, which limits the export ban to Newry and Mourne. It was achieved only three weeks ago after lengthy negotiations with the European Commission.
"We must prepare for the worst case scenario and put in place all-Ireland measures and co-ordinated support to both contain any possible outbreak and protect the farming and tourist industries," he said.
A member of the Assembly's agriculture committee, the DUP's Mr Ian Paisley jnr, said it would be very disappointing if all the preventive measures should turn out to have been in vain.
"If this proves to be a hot case it will demand a fundamental review of the entire strategy to deal with this disease," he said.