The British authorities were last night briefing the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development in Dublin following the discovery of what may well prove to be a fresh outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Yorkshire.
The suspected case was found in two sheep by veterinary experts in Hawnby near Thirsk, north Yorkshire. The sheep, kept on a farm which was being restocked after an outbreak of the disease in August, were found to have mouth lesions.
Livestock movements in a five-mile radius around the farm have been banned as a precaution and vets were last night visiting farms around Britain which supplied the sheep to the farm.
The British Animal Welfare Minister, Mr Elliot Morley, said it was too early to say if this would be the first case of the disease since last September. Laboratory tests could take between four and 96 hours.
A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture in Dublin said its chief vet, Mr Colm Gaynor, was being briefed by the British authorities. While it was too early to say whether this was a "hot" suspect case, it was comforting to know that foot-and-mouth controls were still in place at British seaports serving Ireland and at all Irish ports and airports.
Earlier yesterday, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said tests carried out for foot-and-mouth disease on a sheep with antibodies from a farm in northern England had proved negative.
Last week, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, announced the lifting of restrictions on persons from Britain visiting farms in Ireland and restrictions relating to the importation of horses, greyhounds, vehicles, machinery and other equipment.
The vast range of protocols which have involved disinfection and other precautionary measures and which have applied to horse racing, greyhound racing, hunting and many other activities were also discontinued. He said it was no longer necessary to maintain disinfectant mats in place at premises throughout the country.
However, the restrictions on the frequency of internal livestock movements would remain in place for the time being.
He said disinfection and enhanced controls/checks at points of access to the State by persons travelling from outside the island of Ireland would also be maintained, with particular emphasis on the importation of animal products.
The Department would continue to maintain close liaison with the Northern Ireland authorities in relation to controls/checks on traffic/goods entering Ireland through Northern ports and airports.
Mr Walsh also said a range of other measures such as sheep-tagging, registration of dealers, regulation of trade in sheep and pigs with Northern Ireland and controls on sheep-shearing and AI, would remain as permanent features.