VACCINATION WITH AN EXPIRY DATE FOR ANIMALS - DEATH OR SLAUGHTER OF THOSE VACCINATED TO ACHIEVE ERADICATION OF FOOT AND MOUTH - Filenews 2/4 by Angelos Nikolaou
The return to normality for Cypriot livestock farming goes through a painful process, where every animal vaccinated today will inevitably have to be slaughtered or killed tomorrow, so that the country can be declared free of foot-and-mouth disease again.
Cyprus is now entering a critical phase of managing the foot-and-mouth crisis, as the European Commission has approved the official plan for emergency protective vaccination throughout the island's territory. However, this decision carries with it an extremely harsh condition for the livestock world: The full restoration of the country's status as "disease-free" requires the permanent removal of every vaccinated animal from production.
According to what is set out in Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/782, which was published yesterday in the Official Journal of the European Union, vaccination is not a permanent solution of protection, but an emergency tool to limit the spread. In order for Cyprus to be considered definitively exempt from the measures and trade bans, the following strict conditions apply:
◗ The period of recovery of freedom from the disease begins to be counted only after the last vaccinated animal in the vaccination zone has been killed or taken to the slaughterhouse.
◗ The final lifting of the measures is placed 3 months after the removal of the last vaccinated animal.
◗ During these three months, intensive clinical and laboratory surveillance is required to prove the complete absence of circulation of the virus.
The Veterinary Services are obliged to immediately determine the vaccination zone, which now covers the entire territory of Cyprus. This move was deemed necessary as the outbreaks expanded beyond Larnaca, now reaching the province of Nicosia.
For the first time since the start of the crisis on 19 February, the Republic of Cyprus submitted an official plan for emergency protective vaccination on 2 March, which was approved by Brussels.
As for the first phase of vaccination, it has been completed in 98.5% of the bovine animal population and 80% of the animal population of sheep and goats. The second dose of vaccination has covered 47% of the bovine animal population and 14% of the sheep and goat animal population.-
According to the annex of the decision, 50 outbreaks have been demarcated, with the main ones located within a radius of 3 and 10 kilometers around specific points in Larnaca and Nicosia.
In parallel with the vaccination program, the total ban on the movement of animals (cattle, sheep, goats, pigs) from the "further restricted zone", which covers the rest of the territory of Cyprus, except for the units located in the infected areas, to any destination outside it, remains in force. This measure will remain in force until at least 1 May 2026, with the aim of preventing the spread through sub-clinically infected animals that do not yet show symptoms.
