Confirmation of the first case of bluetongue disease on the island in an imported animal in Co Antrim has sparked a major alert. Seán Mac Connell, Agriculture Correspondent, reports.
A search has been ordered in the Republic for all sheep and cattle brought in from the North so they can be tested for the disease.
Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan has also ordered that all sheep and cattle from Northern Ireland, other than those going directly for slaughter, be subject to a post-importation test for the disease, as in the rest of Europe.
Bluetongue affects all ruminants, including sheep, cattle, deer and goats. It is not harmful to humans but animals who get it become very ill, and some die.
Spread by a small number of species of biting midges, the disease has spread northwards from the Mediterranean since 1999. Scientists blame global warming for its spread.
Symptoms include high fever, excessive salivation, swelling of the face and tongue and cyanosis of the tongue, which results in a bluish discoloration, though this sign is confined to a minority of animals affected. Recovery is very slow.
The Stormont Minister for Agriculture, Michelle Gildernew, said the diseased animal was one of 21 heifers shipped into Co Antrim last month and was diagnosed after a routine test.
All the animals have since been kept in isolation, and movement restrictions have been placed on the farm for the next 30 days. All the animals involved are being tested, and the infected animal slaughtered.
However, a spokesman for the Minister said the North will keep its "bluetongue-free status" because the disease was found in an imported animal and cannot be spread because there are no midges at this time of year.
The statement from Ms Coughlan said she and her officials were keeping in close contact with their Northern counterparts, and the management committee of her department's national disease control centre had met.
She said that despite more than 1,700 post-importation tests being carried out, no bluetongue had been detected in the State. She urged farmers to consider carefully the potential risks of importing cattle from bluetongue-affected areas.
The president of the Ulster Farmers' Union, Kenneth Starkey, called for an immediate voluntary end to livestock imports until further notice.
"It is now clear the current import controls do not guarantee that we are protected," he said.
The Irish Farmers' Association president, Pádraig Walshe, also called for a similar voluntary suspension of imports, and stricter bio-security measures, particularly on high-risk cargo.
Malcolm Thompson, president of the Irish Cattle and Sheepfarmers' Association, said the outbreak had huge implications for livestock farmers in the Republic.
He underlined the need for vigilance.