MOUFLON ALSO AT RISK OF FOOT & MOUTH DISEASE - Filenews 26/2 by Angelos Nikolaou
With an eye on the most emblematic animal species of the Cypriot countryside, the mouflon, are the competent state services due to the foot-and-mouth disease detected in livestock units in the province of Larnaca.
The Game and Fauna Service (MOHP), recognizing the existential danger that the mouflon population is also in, proceeded to take drastic measures. As part of the government's strategy to limit the spread, it was decided to completely ban hunting, as well as the training of hunting dogs in the areas adjacent to the affected livestock farms of Larnaca.
Petros Anagiotou, spokesman for the Game and Fauna Service, speaking to Filenews, expressed his strong concern, noting that mouflons are a wild population that is impossible to fully control. He explained that the measures taken for the pan-Cypriot ban on the movement of animals and feed are moving in the right direction. At the same time, Mr. Anagiotos underlined his concern about the situation with foot-and-mouth disease in the occupied territories, pointing out that in the Paphos forest there are areas where mouflons nest together with flocks of sheep and goats coming from the occupied areas.
He also clarified that the issue of the protection of the mouflon and the measures to avoid the transmission of the virus was discussed at the meeting held at the KSED, stressing that the Game Service participates daily in the Coordination Meeting of all the services involved to deal with foot-and-mouth disease.
The aim of the measures, he said, is to stop any possibility of mechanical transmission of the virus. Hunters, who often travel long distances and diverse habitats, could unwittingly carry the virus through their vehicles, shoes, or dogs from the infected zones to the heart of mouflon habitats.
The senior veterinary officer and spokesperson of the Veterinary Services on the issue of foot-and-mouth disease, Sotiria Georgiadou, confirmed the close cooperation with the Ministry of Medicine. In her statements to Filenews, Ms. Georgiadou described the ban on hunting activity in the affected areas as a step "in the right direction".
"We are in constant communication and are closely monitoring the situation. The decision to exclude hunters from the infected areas is critical, as the mechanical transfer of the virus is one of the greatest risks for the spread of the disease," noted Ms. Georgiadou.
Despite the strong concern, she gave a note of cautious optimism, pointing out that the main area of spread of mouflons is located in a remote geographical point, in the Paphos forest, in relation to the current cases, which offers a natural advantage in the effort to contain it.
The mouflon, as a two-bred animal, is extremely vulnerable to foot-and-mouth disease. Unlike the rest of the animals, where quarantine or controlled killing can be applied, a possible dispersal in the wild population would be practically impossible to contain, threatening the extinction of the unique and rare mammal species.
The authorities are appealing to the public and livestock farmers to fully comply with biosecurity measures, as the coming weeks are considered decisive for whether the disease will remain contained or whether it will manage to break the line of defense to the mountains, thus endangering the mouflon.
