Veterinary officials from the Department of Agriculture were called to the Slaney Meats plant at Clohamon, Bunclody, Co Wexford yesterday after three sheep in a consignment from Kilkenny were found to have mouth lesions.
Restrictions in the immediate area were quickly introduced - similar to those mounted at the Irish Country Meats plant in Camolin on Tuesday when a lamb taken there for slaughter showed symptoms of foot-and-mouth. The Irish Country Meats plant, owned by the Slaney Food Group, is 10 miles from the Bunclody plant.
Slaney Meats, which employs 300, has already weathered the BSE crisis and a month ago sought a number of voluntary redundancies to streamline production in the wake of overseas market restrictions caused by that crisis.
Mr Adrian King, IFA regional organiser in Co Wexford, confirmed the three sheep had shown similar symptoms to the lamb at ICM. He said his office had been inundated with calls from people worried about the situation.
If people's worst fears were realised, the implications for the county would be grave, Mr King said. The ICM plant is on the main Dublin-Rosslare road, Euroroute 1, and any traffic restrictions due to an outbreak would cause major disruption.
Chris Dooley adds: A farm in Co Waterford was under restriction yesterday after two lambs were discovered to have mouth lesions. The two animals have been put down and samples sent to Pirbright Laboratory in Britain for testing but the Department of Agriculture is confident the case is not one of foot-and-mouth.
The discovery was made on a farm near Annestown on Tuesday afternoon, and Department veterinary inspectors were immediately called in to investigate. Mr Cecil Alexander, superintendent veterinary inspector for Waterford, said the samples had been taken "purely as a precautionary measure" and officials considered it to be a "low-risk case".