Foot and mouth controls return

CONTROLS to protect the country’s €20 billion agri food industry were put back in place last night after another outbreakof foot and mouth disease was confirmed in England.

Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan ordered the move just days after restrictions imposed in the wake of last month’s outbreaks of the disease in Surrey were lifted as a result of the all-clear being given by the British authorities.

In response to this outbreak, the European Commission has decided to suspend normal trade to and from Britain. The commission will remain in close contact with the British authorities to monitor the development of this latest outbreak over the coming days, a spokesperson said.

The latest case in a small herd of cattle, about 30 miles from the scene of the last confirmed outbreak in August, came less than 24 hours after EU veterinary experts agreed to declare Britain free of foot and mouth from November 9 next.

Ms Coughlan chaired a meeting in Dublin of the management committee of her department’s National Disease Control Centre, following the news of the latest outbreak.

She later announced she had reintroduced a ban on the importation of live animals and certain animal products, including fresh meat, raw milk and milk products from Britain.

She said she had also spoken with her counterpart in the North Michelle Gildernew and agreed that an all-island approach should be maintained.

Ms Coughlan also confirmed that disinfection procedures at ports and airports are being reintroduced immediately.

Mairead McGuinness MEP said confirmation of the case, a short time after the British authorities had given the all clear in relation to earlier outbreaks, was alarming: “We need to establish quickly if it is the same foot-and-mouth strain as the previous cases in August, which were linked to the Pirbright laboratory site.”