Co-ordinated planning is proceeding in the Republic and Northern Ireland to guard against the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain spreading to Ireland.
The British government's investigation into the outbreak confirmed on a Surrey farm last Friday is focused on two laboratories that share the same site at Pirbright near the affected farm.
The British authorities yesterday confirmed that another case of the disease had been found following a cull of cattle on two additional sites within the original farm holding.
However, while a temporary ban on the import to Ireland of all live animals, fresh meat and non-pasteurised milk from Britain is to remain in place, all animals imported here from Britain in the last month have been checked and found to be clear of the disease.
Veterinary sources in Britain have also told The Irish Timesthat no animals have been moved from the infected farm since mid-June.
Although levels of security will continue to be stepped up and disinfectant facilities are being installed at airports and ferry ports, the Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, said that as of now major events such as Dublin Horse Show and the Tullamore national livestock show would not be affected.
Over the weekend, the British government confirmed that a strain of foot-and-mouth disease dating back to 1967, which was identified in a herd of cattle at the Surrey farm, is most similar to the strain used at a Pirbright laboratory site located about eight km away.
This site accommodates the Institute of Animal Health (IAH) - the European reference laboratory - and Merial Animal Health Ltd, a pharmaceutical company.
The British ministry of environment, food and rural affairs yesterday said the culling of cattle on the infected farm was completed on Saturday. This included the 38 cattle known to be infected, and cattle on two additional sites within the same holding.
The cattle on these sites showed no clinical signs of foot-and-mouth disease and were culled in line with normal procedures. Test results showed that one had tested positive for the disease, the ministry said.
Britain's chief veterinary officer has ordered an additional 3km radius protection zone, and a wider 10km surveillance zone, to be placed around the second part of the farm. Susceptible animals on an adjacent farm are also being culled.
Ms Coughlan and her Northern Ireland counterpart, Michelle Gildernew, were given the go-ahead at the weekend by the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and First Minister, the Rev Ian Paisley, to adopt an "all-island" approach to the crisis.
The Taoiseach and Dr Paisley had a long conversation on Saturday night on how to proceed with guarding against the threat.
Ms Coughlan and Ms Gildernew ruled out a need to seal off the Border because of the levels of North-South cooperation.
Irish farm organisations have expressed concern at the levels of biosecurity at the Pirbright facility, to which samples of infection are sent for analysis for foot-and-mouth. It was this facility which confirmed the Irish foot-and-mouth cases in 2001.
Ms Coughlan, who chaired a meeting with her officials yesterday morning, stressed afterwards that the outbreak in the UK was an "evolving situation". She said she would not be introducing additional control measures at this time. However, the situation in Britain would continue to be treated with the "utmost seriousness".
The temporary ban on the importation from Britain of live cattle, sheep, pigs and goats and fresh meat products from those animals, as well as raw milk, will remain in place. It will be reviewed in light of an EU Commission decision which is likely to be adopted in the coming days.
This is expected to lead to an EU-wide ban on the importation of live animals and fresh meat from Britain, although the length of this ban, and what products and exemptions might be allowed, remain to be established.