Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan said this evening authorities here would monitor the Bluetounge disease outbreak in Britian "very closely".
Five positive test results have been recorded on four separate premises in Suffolk since last Saturday leading to the declaration of an official outbreak, which confirms the virus is circulating between the local livestock and midges that transmit the virus.
The British outbreak follows the rapid spread of the disease across northern Europe, with over 6,400 cases having been recorded in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands this year.
The latest declaration has led to the Irish Farmers Association to call for the highest levels of vigilance across the island of Ireland.
IFA President Padraig Walshe said the clear focus for Ireland must be to remain FMD and Bluetongue free.
He said Ms Coughlan must ensure that a very high level of bio-security is applied at all points of entry into the country.
Ms Coughlan said today's development changed little as far as Ireland was concerned because there had been a ban in place on the importation of live animals from Britain since the first case of the second cluster of foot-and-mouth disease was confirmed on 12th September.
She said the situation in Britain would be monitored very closely adding she expected further confirmed cases to be virtually inevitable in the short-term.
Ms Coughlan said officials would continue to work particularly closely with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland as well.
Live animals from non-Bluetounge affected areas in Continental Europe are subject to post-import tests and to date from 1384 tests there had been no positive results, she said.
Ms Coughlan said the Department of Agriculture and Food has engaged the Department of Zoology at NUI, Galway, to carrying out a comprehensive survey of the midges that potentially transmit infection. The programme also involves the Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis (CVERA), which is based at UCD.
Bluetongue is a notifiable disease and that any suspicions of the disease must be reported immediately to the department.