The foot-and-mouth disease crisis continues to intensify three months after the first outbreak, deepening the damage to Cyprus’s livestock sector as new infections emerge and frustration among farmers grows.
Authorities are racing to complete sampling and laboratory analysis across Limassol, Paphos and Famagusta by the end of the month to determine whether the virus has spread to all districts.
Following a confirmed case in Pachna, Limassol, which showed the virus had moved beyond Larnaca and Nicosia, three more infections have been identified in sheep and goat units in Nicosia district. The latest cases bring the total number of infected farms nationwide to 120.
According to information available, the new cases concern farms in Paliometocho, Mammari and Kokkinotrimithia, all within the existing infected zone in western Nicosia and inside the 3 km radius.
Farmers protest amid control failures
Perceived failures by state authorities, including the Veterinary Services and the police, to contain the outbreak, as well as confusion over sampling and laboratory testing in Pachna, have fuelled anger among livestock farmers.
At 10:00 today, a group of farmers is set to stage a protest outside the Presidential Palace, despite restrictions. The gathering itself raises concerns about further spreading the virus.
In recent days, farmers warned that they have “reached the limit,” calling for an immediate halt to mass culling, despite provisions in EU protocols, and demanding greater reliability in laboratory testing.
Organised farmers’ unions will not take part in the protest but have requested a meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides.
The wider farming movement is urging the President to intervene decisively, seeking a review of mass culling measures through the EU, the introduction of an emergency financial support plan and steps to prevent the collapse of domestic production and halloumi output.
Situation in Limassol, Paphos and Famagusta
A second round of epidemiological investigations is expected to be completed by the end of the month in Limassol, Paphos and Famagusta.
The aim is to determine the full extent of the outbreak, specifically whether infections in Limassol extend beyond the Pachna unit, where 62 sheep and goats were affected, and whether regions currently considered unaffected, such as Paphos and free Famagusta, remain virus-free.
The last samples taken in those areas in late March were negative.
The Veterinary Services said on Thursday that all samples collected so far from units other than the infected farm in Pachna have returned negative results. Sampling and laboratory analysis remain ongoing across all three districts.
Series of high-level meetings
Amid worsening developments, two key meetings were held on Thursday.
Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou first convened a meeting with the leadership of the Veterinary Services to review the course of the outbreak and assess containment measures.
The meeting also examined obstacles faced by veterinary officers on the ground. According to information, officials stressed they do not want to remain caught in “crossfire” but need to focus fully on managing the crisis.
President Christodoulides later chaired an internal meeting, having earlier stated that the government remains in constant contact with farmers and signalling that “whatever needs to be done will be done.”
Speaking to reporters as he left the Presidential Palace for an engagement at the Qatari ambassador’s residence, he said the situation was under continuous monitoring and that a further meeting would be held later in the day to address both the outbreak and the broader situation.
Scale of the damage
The figures underline the scale of the crisis.
Of the 120 infected units across Cyprus, located in Larnaca, the Idalion, Geri area, western Nicosia and Pachna in Limassol, the majority, 103, involve sheep and goat farms. Of these, 73 are in Larnaca, 29 in Nicosia and one in Limassol.
The remaining cases include 14 cattle farms, nine in Larnaca and five in Nicosia, and three pig units, all in western Nicosia.
So far, around 71-thousand animals have been culled, including 43-thousand sheep and goats, 3-thousand cattle and more than 24-thousand pigs.
The affected animals represent 11 per cent of the country’s adult sheep and goat population, 3.5 per cent of cattle and nearly 8 per cent of pigs.
Milk shortages have already forced the government to reduce the required proportion of sheep and goat milk in halloumi from 25 per cent to 15 per cent.
