A senior Veterinary Services official warned on Saturday that delays in culling animals at infected units are making the foot-and-mouth outbreak worse and said full compliance with the measures already announced was essential if Cyprus is to restore normality in livestock farming.
Speaking to reporters, senior Veterinary Services officer Sotiria Grigoriadou said: “We cannot save the tree and lose the forest.” She said all parties involved had to fully apply the measures already announced and warned that without strict compliance, it was impossible to estimate when normal conditions would return to the livestock sector.
Grigoriadou said a lack of cooperation from some livestock farmers was creating serious problems for the Veterinary Services and delaying the culling of animals at units where cases had been found. She added that the lack of cooperation had also led to accidents involving Veterinary Services staff as they tried to carry out their duties.
She also said at least two officials had filed complaints with the police over the way they were treated.
Grigoriadou said on Saturday that the number of livestock units in the Larnaca district where cases had been detected remained at 38. She said sampling and tracing linked to animal movements were continuing to determine whether there were other outbreaks elsewhere.
She warned that the current picture could still worsen, especially after gatherings by livestock farmers and obstruction of Veterinary Services’ work. “As long as we are not culling the animals, we have an outbreak there that is emitting virus, and the longer we delay, the worse it is for our livestock sector,” she said.
Asked about the mobilisation by livestock farmers against the culling of animals in Larnaca on Saturday morning, she said veterinarians were not in a position to confront a crowd and described such actions as obstruction of the competent authority’s work.
She said farmers at units where cases had been detected had been informed from the outset that the animals would have to be culled. She added, in response to a question, that there was agreement in that direction with private veterinarians as well.
Grigoriadou said 14,000 sheep and goats and 1,100 cattle had so far been culled, while another 10,000 animals were still awaiting the process.
She also said checks and vaccinations were continuing in all districts, with 73% of cattle farms and about 35% of sheep and goat farms covered so far. She said vaccinations were being carried out across Cyprus, starting from the edges of infected units and with emphasis on areas near the ceasefire line.
At the same time, vaccinations were also continuing in Paphos, Limassol and Famagusta, first in cattle, then in sheep and goats around pig units, and then in the remaining sheep and goats. She said this approach was being followed because cows are much more sensitive, show strong clinical symptoms, are larger animals and shed the virus through breathing.
She said the next step was to protect pig units, where the virus may be shed without visible symptoms.
Grigoriadou also said the advisory committee on compensation for livestock farmers, set up on March 5 by a cabinet decision, had already met once with the participation of the Agriculture Department, the Agricultural Research Institute and representatives of farming organisations.
She said individual files would now be created for each livestock farmer based on herd size, tax returns and other data, so the authorities would be ready to move quickly on compensation.
She added that a first relief measure had already been approved, providing a small payment of up to €50,000 depending on herd size, to help farmers whose animals had been culled until the compensation process was completed.
At the same time, she said the Agriculture Ministry, its relevant departments and livestock farmers were in contact to help bring in animals of high genetic value from various European countries so that farmers could restart operations as quickly as possible once all animals in the area had been culled, the sites cleaned and disinfected, and the necessary checks completed.
Asked about imports, she said there was ongoing open communication with Spain and France. “The animals are there. The issue is when we will be able to reactivate the units,” she said, adding that no animals could enter before all animals had been culled, disinfection completed and the area cleaned.
She also said no permits were being issued for animals from infected units to be taken to butcher shops and that any permits issued allowed transport only on Fridays and only directly to slaughterhouses.
Grigoriadou said checks were continuing on all vehicles moving to and from livestock units. She also referred to the new decree restricting the shearing of animals, under which only tools kept within each individual unit may be used to avoid contact and the risk of transmitting the virus.
She added that the movement of wool and animal hides from slaughterhouses and from areas where animals are shorn had also been banned.
Asked whether there was any picture of how foot-and-mouth was developing in areas of Cyprus not controlled by the Republic, Grigoriadou said any update depended on the bicommunal committee when it met. “What we know as citizens, what is being heard, is that a small number of animals were culled and that vaccinations went ahead,” she said, noting that the Veterinary Services could not exercise control in those areas.