http://www.boston.com/dailynews/106/world/Flaring_pyres_dimming_hopes_No:.shtml

Flaring pyres, dimming hopes: Northern Ireland fears full-scale outbreak

By Laura King, Associated Press, 4/16/2001 10:26

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) Only days ago, Northern Ireland had reason to hope it would escape an epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease like that ravaging the farms of mainland Britain.

On Monday, hopes dimmed and pyres flared, as soldiers and agricultural officials slaughtered and incinerated animals to try to prevent the spread of the highly contagious livestock ailment.

Until Friday, only one case of foot-and-mouth had been confirmed in the province, and it was six weeks ago. But then came two outbreaks in three days the latest of them confirmed Sunday.

Adding to the gloom, the new cases were scattered: one near the border with the Republic of Ireland, the second on the northern seacoast. Another two suspected sites of infection were being investigated.

The province's agriculture minister, Brid Rodgers, announced a complete ban on livestock movement Monday, and urged farmers to take drastic steps to keep unnecessary vehicles and visitors off their land.

''I have rescinded all licenses to move animals, and I am saying to farmers: sealing off your farms is not putting a (disinfectant) mat at the gate,'' she said.

The province's government leaders were holding an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis, even though Easter Monday was a holiday.

While harmless to humans, foot-and-mouth usually spells economic disaster for farmers in countries that export agricultural products.

Vaccination can be used to contain the spread of the virus, but because animals then carry antibodies, it results in the loss of disease-free status that is crucial to trade.

Britain has been trying, so far unsuccessfully, to eradicate the disease through mass slaughter of animals that might have been exposed to infection.

Northern Ireland has watched with dread foot-and-mouth's inexorable march on the mainland from the first case in late February to more than 1,300 separate outbreaks now.

Britain's chief scientist, Professor David King, met farmers Monday to discuss his proposal of vaccinating half a million cattle in two hard-hit areas to protect them from the disease when they emerge from their winter sheds.

King said he was not advocating a wider use of vaccination, and the government said no decision had been made.

Word of Northern Ireland's new cases which came two weeks after a European Union export ban had been lifted for most of the province sent a shudder of apprehension through the neighboring Republic of Ireland, whose economy is heavily dependent on agriculture. Until now, it has had only one case, discovered three weeks ago in a border area.

Ireland's agriculture minister, Joe Walsh, called for more stringent border controls to fight the disease.

''This fresh outbreak means that there is a geographic spread of the disease ... it is actually rampant,'' he said. ''We have to remain vigilant, to have each farmer to have their farm as a fortress.''

As elsewhere in Britain, Northern Ireland's tourism industry was taking a hit as a result of foot-and-mouth. On Easter, officials ordered the indefinite closing of Glenariff Park, a prime tourist attraction on the scenic Antrim coast, near the site of the latest outbreak.

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2001