The North's agriculture industry is today awaiting the final batch of blood-test results carried out on livestock in the North to establish the source of foot-and-mouth disease detected in pigs in Essex.
All results returned by laboratories to date have shown no signs of the disease. The North's chief veterinary officer, Dr Bob McCracken, yesterday confirmed no symptoms were found in examinations of three farms, still under restrictions.
The North's Minister for Agriculture, Ms Brid Rodgers, yesterday said it appeared the source of the outbreak was not in the North. She said she hoped this would be confirmed in time for the European Commission review of the outbreak next Tuesday, and the export ban on the North could be lifted. Last Thursday a consignment of Northern Ireland pigs was sent to the abattoir in Essex.
According to a spokesman for the North's Department of Agriculture the pigs were not placed in the pen where the diseased animals were kept at the plant over the weekend but were slaughtered immediately. The truck used to transport the pigs returned to the North with sheep aboard. The Co Tyrone haulier then brought cattle to Co Cavan. The spokesman said officials were satisfied the man sterilised his truck after each consignment, and it showed no trace of the disease.
Mr John Gilliland of the Ulster Farmers' Union said if the North was confirmed not to be the source of the disease, his organisation would call for a regional approach from the European Commission with a lifting of the export ban. Meanwhile, the chairman of the Northern Ireland Food Standards Agency, Mr Michael Walker, said the disease had no effect on humans.