The foot-and-mouth disease crisis is now taking on police proportions with six serious cases of violations registered for further investigation following a complaint by the Veterinary Services.
While the President of the Republic will receive today, first the epidemiological team and then the agricultural organizations and the organization "Voice of Livestock Breeders", the Veterinary Services are proceeding with drastic measures, sending serious cases of illegality directly to the Police headquarters.
The outbreak of the disease has brought to the surface long-term pathologies, as for the first time a universal and strict count of the animal population is carried out in the units. This results in fines of thousands of euros and revelations about undeclared animals complicating the management of the crisis.
According to the Veterinary Services, the tightening of controls has already led to the issuance of 27 administrative fines, the total amount of which reaches €91,540. The violations mainly concern the illegal movement of animals and feed, uncontrolled grazing, as well as the transport of manure in violation of the decrees.
The most serious part, however, concerns 6 specific cases, which were judged to be extremely serious and have already been registered with the Police for criminal investigation.
These cases concern:
• Illegal movements of animals from area to region.
• Transport of animals to slaughterhouses without the necessary permission of the Veterinary Services.
• Disappearance of animals from farms shortly before their scheduled killing.
Due to the need to contain foot-and-mouth disease, for the first time there is a real count of heads in the units. This led to the identification of huge discrepancies between legally declared and illegal animals.
What the protesting breeders are asking for
Livestock farmers are pushing hard for an end to mass slaughter, calling for only sick animals to be slaughtered. However, competent sources make it clear that this request does not correspond to the legislation, nor to scientific reality.
The virus is transmitted rapidly. During the tests, a certain percentage of samples are taken and, by the time the results come out, the contamination has already spread. As circles of the Veterinary Services characteristically state, "it is not possible for the services to be installed daily in an infected farm and to sample each animal separately".
Behind the scenes, however, it is whispered that the insistence of some on selective killings is linked to the discrepancies in the counts. Before each killing, a full record is made. If the entire unit is killed, the deviations are revealed. On the contrary, if only the positive animals are isolated, they are normally compensated and the illegality of the other undeclared animals remains in the dark.
Official data reflect the extent of the damage to livestock: So far, 120 units have been found infected, namely 14 cattle units, one of which was illegal (9 units in Larnaca and 5 units in Nicosia), 103 units of sheep and goats (73 units in Larnaca, one of which was illegal and 29 units in Nicosia, 1 in Limassol) and 3 pig farms in western Nicosia.
Of the 120 units, 3 concern pig farms, 1 is illegal with cattle, 1 is illegal with sheep, 31 are very small units with less than 50 animals, 4 are animal trade (one of which is fattening) and 80 are normal units. The total number of animals in these units is 78,060.
So far, 45,180 sheep and goats have been killed out of 50,526 infected animals, which corresponds to 11.5% of the domestic adult population, 3,018 cattle (3.5%) out of 3,051 infected and 24,483 pigs (7.8%).
The killing of animals in another 15 units is pending (11 in Larnaca, 3 in Nicosia, 1 in Limassol). In Larnaca, the exception is the thick-tailed sheep and the cattle unit of the local breed in Dromolaxia.
The vaccination plan is in progress
The only glimmer of hope comes from the vaccination program, which is progressing at a satisfactory pace. In cattle, the second phase of vaccination reached 92% and in sheep and goats 84% of the units that received the first dose. In the provinces of Famagusta, Larnaca, Nicosia and Paphos, the second dose has been fully completed, while in Limassol 38% of sheep and goats are pending.
As for pig farms, out of the 57 licensed units nationwide, 33 are within restriction zones after the cases in Paliometocho, Kokkinotrimithia and Athienou. Of these, 23 have already been fully vaccinated with both doses (112,250 pigs were vaccinated in the first dose and 118,200 were revaccinated in the second dose).
