Second foot-and-mouth case confirmed in the North

Northern Ireland agriculture minister Ms Bríd Rodgers has announced a second case of foot-and-mouth disease in Northern Ireland.

A second set of tests on a dairy herd in County Tyrone proved positive.

Initial test results on the blood samples from the herd in Ardboe, near Cookstown, were negative but a statement from Ms Rodgers said her officials were now viewing it as "a positive case."

A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture told ireland.comthis evening that his Department has told the Gardaí to be extra vigilant in patrolling the border against the illegal movement of animal products.

Meanwhile the statement from Ms Rogers follows a British government briefing that the average daily number of confirmed foot-and-mouth cases fell by a quarter last week.

In the seven-day period ending April 8th there was an average of 32 new cases each day compared to 43 in the previous week.

The news supports claims by experts that the outbreak is bottoming out and will cheer officials who say the mass slaughter policy is working.

British government statistics, disclosed in a briefing at the Maff in London, show that 1,580,000 animals have been slaughtered or identified for culling.

Maff said of these, 1,039,000 animals had already been slaughtered, of which 408,000 still needed to be disposed of.

Additional reporting by PA