Department of Agriculture inspectors are carrying out intensive investigations in the Virginia area of Co Cavan, after animals were delivered on a lorry which had earlier transported livestock to the British abattoir where foot-and-mouth disease has been confirmed.
The Northern Ireland-registered lorry delivered pigs to the Cheale Meats abattoir in Essex last Thursday, returned to the North with a load of sheep and, over the weekend, delivered animals to Virginia, Co Cavan.
The Virginia investigation is part of a drive to prevent the spread of the highly contagious disease which has already led to an EU ban on the export of live animals and animal products from the UK, announced yesterday by the EU Commissioner, Mr David Byrne.
He announced the ban immediately after the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Mr Walsh, imposed a unilateral ban on animal and animal products from the UK, including Northern Ireland, into the Republic.
The UK authorities had earlier confirmed that 300 pigs and 60 cattle had been killed at the Cheale Meats slaughterhouse and an adjacent farm owned by the same family. Another five farms have been sealed off pending investigations.
The Northern Ireland authorities confirmed that the lorry had delivered pigs to the Essex plant on Thursday from three Northern Ireland producers, and that it had returned with a load of sheep. It had then travelled into the Republic.
A Northern Ireland department spokesman said a number of farms which had received sheep from the lorry had been sealed off for investigation, and the three pig plants were also under investigation. The lorry had been located and impounded for examination, and it is understood that before it made its trip to Co Cavan, it had been disinfected.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, said that, because the disease was so infectious, the import of live animals, animal products including fresh meat, meat products, milk and milk products, semen, ova, embryos and hides was being banned.
"Department staff at district veterinary offices, meat plants and ports have been put on alert, and recent imports are being traced with a view to detention," said his statement.
"The Department has also contacted the Garda authorities to enlist their support in enforcing the ban, especially in relation to imports from Northern Ireland," it added. Some extra gardai have been drafted to main Border crossings.
While there is no risk to human health from foot-and-mouth disease, according to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, an outbreak in the State could cause havoc to Irish agriculture which exports billions of pounds worth of food annually.
The North's Minister of Agriculture, Ms Brid Rodgers, said the Ministry of Agriculture in London had agreed to her request to stop the export of pigs, sheep, goats, cattle and semen from Britain to Northern Ireland but refused a request from Mr Ian Paisley jnr to ban products from the Republic in retaliation for its ban.
The main supermarket chains said last night that at the request of the Department of Agriculture they were withdrawing pork products from the UK. A number of smaller supermarkets which have been selling milk from the North will have to withdraw this from the market.