The highly infectious disease Maedi Visna (MV) has been detected in homebred sheep in NI, but has not resulted in NI losing its MV-free status, DAERA chief vet Robert Huey has confirmed.

“A number of flocks are currently subject to movement restrictions following tracing from an infected premises.

“Our approach remains to trace, test and remove infected animals, implementing a rigorous stamping out policy for the disease,” he said.

The issue was first detected when three rams from a NI flock tested positive for MV in Scotland and the other two positive rams were later detected in NI.

Confusion surrounded the issue last Friday when Scotland’s Rural College, which administers an MV accreditation scheme in Britain, announced that NI would no longer have MV-free status.

This was clarified by DAERA on Wednesday, with Huey stating that “a number of options” are available for NI to retain its MV-free accreditation.

This includes introduction of an NI- or all-island-based accreditation scheme like the one in Britain.

DAERA has said keeping NI free from MV is “vital for our animal health and trading status”.

The disease is caused by a virus and it has a long incubation period, so sheep tend not to show clinical signs until adulthood. It causes pneumonia, paralysis, wasting, arthritis, and chronic mastitis.

A long-standing testing regime for MV remains in place for sheep moving into NI from outside the island of Ireland.