Two fresh culls of animals were under way in Northern Ireland yesterday after suspect secondary outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease were identified at Ardboe, Co Tyrone, and at Newtown Crommelin, Co Antrim.
The North's Minister of Agriculture, Ms Brid Rodgers, said the decision to cull had been taken in advance of test results from the Pirbright laboratory in England.
A farm close to the Donnelly farm in Ardboe has been affected.
The second suspect case, in Co Antrim, is located on an outholding belonging to Mr Sean McCambridge. It is believed he will lose his entire stock on numerous holdings as a result of the outbreak on his main farm near Cushendall.
A spokesman for the North's Department of Agriculture said he was expecting the incineration of animals at the Donnelly and McCambridge farms to be completed yesterday. The cull would then be extended to a 3km radius in order to slaughter all pigs.
A total of up to 16,000 animals may be killed in the area.
The spokesman said it was feared that the outbreak meant the Glens of Antrim could be completely depopulated of sheep because it was so densely covered with flocks, and ownership or leasing of farm holdings fell into "patchwork" patterns, making the disease difficult to contain.
Ms Rodgers also announced yesterday that all movement of animals in Northern Ireland would cease and revoked earlier permits. She has also prohibited the mixing of cattle and sheep on farms.
The Minister warned farmers that if they had broken guidelines issued by her Department and moved animals without a licence they had broken the law "and the law will take its course".
The North's chief veterinary officer, Mr Bob McCracken, said the only way to control the disease was to seal off every farm.
He confirmed that none of the North's three confirmed cases to date was wind-borne in origin. "The virus has got on to these three premises through the gate or over the hedge", he said.
Meanwhile Dr Paul Kitchen, who is attached to the Pirbright laboratory, has criticised the North's Department of Agriculture for making "premature" announcements on foot-and-mouth test results. Last week initial results on samples from the Donnelly farm in Ardboe proved negative, but follow-up tests proved positive.
"It was, in retrospect, a mistake for the Department to give out those preliminary results, and perhaps in retrospect it was a mistake for us to tell the Department what the preliminary results were", Dr Kitchen said.
Ms Rodgers said yesterday that when the results were publicised it had been emphasised that the animals had not been officially given the all-clear.