Preliminary results on a Co Antim sheep flock suspected of having foot-and-mouth disease are now not expected until tomorrow.
|
|
|
If confirmed it will bring the total number of outbreaks in Northern Ireland to five. Three outbreaks in County Tyrone and County Antrim last week followed the original outbreak in Meigh, Co Armagh, last month.
The sheep on the farm at Ballintoy were culled last week, but if the farm is infected it will mean the virus has spread beyond the 20 kilometre exclusion zone established after the outbreak in Cushendall, Co Antrim.
A spokesman for the North's Department of Agriculture told ireland.comthe Department hopes to have the results from Ballintoy by tomorrow, but said it could be as late as Thursday before they are known.
Meanwhile a stand-off between the North's department of agriculture officials in and residents opposing attempts to exhume and burn buried sheep carcasses has been resolved, it was disclosed today.
Officials who dug up the animals' remains at a site in Coagh, Co Tyrone amid fears they had been secretly buried after showing signs of the disease were last night prevented from setting them alight.
Locals blocked efforts to destroy the five sheep, a cow and calf in the area of one of Northern Ireland's four confirmed outbreaks of foot-and-mouth because of the risk of dioxins.
But a Northern Ireland department of agriculture spokesman today said the situation had now been resolved to the satisfaction of those who had expressed concerns.
"We are disposing of them today and they won't be burnt in the area where residents were opposed to," he said.
Samples have already been taken from the buried carcasses and sent to the testing laboratory at Pirbright in Surrey.
Efforts to crack down on rogue farmers and livestock dealers whose illegal movement of animals is suspected of spreading the disease in Northern Ireland have so far led to 19 arrests.
Agriculture minister Ms Bríd Rodgers yesterday also confirmed that RUC patrols had led to a further six interceptions over the weekend.
Additional reporting by PA