Control measures remain in place to battle foot and mouth disease

Control measures remain in place on Saturday as Cyprus aims to stem the spread of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease which was detected in the Larnaca district earlier this month.

As such, the ban on the movement of livestock and feed nationwide remains in place, with a 10-kilometre surveillance zone also being upheld.

Veterinary services department spokeswoman Sotiria Georgiadou had said on Friday that there had been “no new cases” detected, and that all cows within a three-kilometre radius of the first recorded case have been vaccinated, with cows within a 10-kilometre radius now undergoing vaccinations.

She said that in addition to this, “steps have been taken to order vaccines for pigs”.

Additionally, she said that a total of 529,000 doses of the vaccine, sent by the European Commission, are expected to arrive on the island on Saturday, with those doses set to complement the 60,000 doses sent by the Turkish Cypriot authorities this week, before calling on the public to remain calm and follow instructions.

On this matter, she explained that cows are the first animals to be vaccinated as they are “more vulnerable”, with pigs next to be receive the vaccine, and sheep and goats to be vaccinated after that.

“This is done because pigs are very vulnerable, and when they get infected, they reproduce the virus in very large quantities,” she said, before saying that in this vein, sheep and goats around pig pens are also high in the priority list for vaccinations.

She was then asked whether pigs are being tested for the disease and said that “pigs are in complete confinement”.

In addition, she reiterated her words from Thursday, stressing that “we are in a critical situation, we are still at the beginning, we are in a state of standstill”.

Then asked about the killing of animals, she said culling is ongoing and that the veterinary services department is continuing to “look for the most suitable burial sites within the specifications we set”.

These burial sites, she said, must be carefully chosen “so that the groundwater and soil are not contaminated” and so that the National Guard can be informed.

Asked when the killing of animals will be completed, she said this should be done within the next week.