Three new foot-and-mouth disease cases detected in goat and sheep units in the Nicosia district have brought the total number of infected units island-wide to 120, according to Phileleftheros sources. President Nikos Christodoulides announced yesterday that he was personally taking charge of the crisis, as farmers prepared to march on the Presidential Palace on Friday.
President intervenes
Speaking from Limassol yesterday afternoon, Christodoulides said he would personally handle the matter and communicate directly with those affected. “I will personally take charge of this issue. I will speak myself so that those directly concerned and those directly affected know — let us also speak publicly about this specific matter,” he said. He confirmed that the question of additional testing demanded by farmers had been discussed at Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, adding that the Veterinary Services, in line with international protocols, did not consider repeat testing necessary.
Defending the Veterinary Services against farmers’ accusations of inadequate biosecurity measures, the President rejected claims of a breakdown in coordination with the Agriculture Ministry. He pointed instead to those who had violated containment measures, citing the spread to Pachna in Limassol as an example. “Remember where foot-and-mouth stopped and where it appeared in Limassol. Something happened for it to reach Pachna. That means there was no cooperation — it means some people were not following what they should have been following,” he said.
He warned that without collective compliance the crisis could not be contained. “Either we all cooperate to follow what needs to be followed, or we will not be able to meet this challenge. If we do not cooperate, in the end we will all be the losers,” he said.
The scale of the outbreak
Of the 120 infected units, 103 are goat and sheep units — the hardest hit. Larnaca accounts for 73 of these, one of which is operating illegally. Nicosia accounts for 29 and Limassol for one. Fourteen cattle units have been infected — nine in Larnaca and five in Nicosia, one of the latter operating illegally. Three pig units have been infected, all in western Nicosia.
Of the 120 units, 80 are classified as standard, 31 are very small with fewer than 50 animals, four are livestock trading units — one of them a fattening unit — and the remainder comprise the three pig units and two illegal units.
The total number of animals affected stands at 78,060 — 50,526 goats and sheep, 24,483 pigs and 3,051 cattle. So far, 43,156 goats and sheep have been culled, representing 11% of the total adult goat and sheep population. 24,483 pigs have been culled, representing around 8% of the total pig population. 3,018 cattle have been culled, representing 4% of the total cattle population.
Authorities have begun a second round of epidemiological investigation in the Limassol, Paphos and Famagusta districts, which recorded only negative results in the first round. The second round identified one case in Pachna, Limassol on May 14, at a farm of 62 goats and sheep. All district veterinary offices have been instructed to collect samples from livestock assembly units and fattening units, with sampling expected to be completed within the coming week.
Agriculture Minister meets Veterinary Services today
The Agriculture Minister is holding a meeting today with the leadership of the Veterinary Services to review the course of the outbreak and assess existing containment measures. The Veterinary Services are to present scientific data on the geographical spread of the disease. The second round of epidemiological investigation in Limassol, Paphos and Famagusta and the vaccination programme are also under review.
Farmers’ protest and farming organisations’ demands
A group of farmers has decided to hold a protest outside the Presidential Palace on Friday. They say they have “reached the limit” and are calling for the immediate suspension of mass culling of healthy or asymptomatic animals, and for greater reliability in laboratory testing, citing recent events in Pachna.
While the President yesterday placed responsibility for the virus’s spread on those who violated containment measures, farmers maintain their own claims of mismanagement and are demanding an immediate halt to mass culling. They have said their descent on the capital will be in large numbers and that they will not leave without what they describe as fundamental changes in crisis management.
Five farming organisations — PEK, EKA, Panagrotic, New Farming Movement and Euroagrotic — have separately sent an urgent request for a meeting with President Christodoulides, calling for emergency economic support measures and warning against what they describe as the complete destruction of domestic livestock production and of halloumi.