The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, today (Monday, December 8) confirmed that 'additional targeted and risk-based' survelliance for bluetongue has been implemented.

Minister Heydon said this includes "on-farm surveillance blood sampling of cattle and sheep; testing livestock submitted to Regional Veterinary Laboratories and sampling of cattle routinely slaughtered at meat plants".

The minister also outlined that movement of bluetongue virus (BTV) susceptible animals chiefly cattle, sheep and goats from Northern Ireland to Ireland is "no longer permitted for breeding and production", as the certification conditions can no longer be met.

According to Minister Heydon movements of cattle and sheep directly to slaughter from Northern Ireland to Ireland "are currently permitted only where such movements are accompanied by veterinary health certification".

He also detailed new additional requirements that have been introduced including that movements must be "direct and non-stop to the slaughterplant".

These livestock movements must also be "pre-notified" to DAFM.

Bluetongue

Earlier today the Independent Ireland MEP Ciaran Mullooly and the Roscommon-Galway TD, Michael Fitzmaurice called for the "precautionary closure of livestock movements from Northern Ireland into the Republic of Ireland following confirmation of bluetongue cases in the North".

The MEP and TD believe that this action is required to "protect Irish farmers, safeguard animal health, and preserve Ireland’s disease-free status".

This follows confirmation from the NI Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) over the weekend that a new suspected bluetongue case had been identified on a farm in Co. Down.

Vets in Northern Ireland were investigating the suspect case of the virus in a cow near Greyabbey on Saturday (December 6).

No futher update has been provided by DAERA on those tests.

However the North's Agriculture Minister, Andrew Muir, has warned that if further cases are confirmed then a bluetongue virus exclusion zone could be declared across the whole of Northern Ireland.