Minister extends Louth exclusion zone

The Minister for Agriculture has announced the extension of the exclusion zone around Proleek in north Co Louth, where a foot-and-mouth outbreak was confirmed last week.

Minister Joe Walsh met Louth farmers to hear their concerns before making the announcement.

The exclusion zone will be extended towards the border although the zone is not totally defined and will be decided when farmers and senior veterinary inspectors meet later this week.

The Minister also referred to the extension of the firebreak corridor and the proposal to eradicate all the sheep flocks in that zone in conjunction with his northern counterparts.

The Minister stressed that the first priority was to eliminate all sheep in the 3km zone surrounding the outbreak, which should be completed by this evening or early tomorrow morning.

In the last 24 hours 1,200 additional sheep, which came in from Northern Ireland between February 1st and 20th, has been slaughtered.