Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus’ veterinary services department imposed a nationwide ban on the movement of animals and animal feed on Sunday as it seeks to contain an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
Nationwide restrictions
The veterinary services department said that, as part of measures to control and limit the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, any movement of animals and feed, including grazing outside livestock premises, is prohibited throughout Cyprus without prior approval.
The department added that the ban also includes a prohibition on transferring animals to slaughterhouses.
Outbreak location and response measures
The outbreak is centred in the Larnaca boroughs of Oroklini and Livadia.
Around 300 animals from an impacted farm in Livadia are set to be culled, while all products from the farm, including meat and milk, have been seized.
Police demarcated an exclusion zone around the area, with vehicles leaving the restricted zone being disinfected upon exit, and patrols of the area and its perimeters increased.
Staffing and investigation
The department cancelled staff leave and transferred veterinarians to the Larnaca district from other parts of the island, while also recruiting private veterinarians to support tracing and on-site farm inspections.
Department director Christodoulos Pipis said an investigation is under way to determine whether the virus entered the Larnaca district through animal feed brought from the north, which had experienced its own foot-and-mouth outbreak in recent months.
Pipis said animal feed is a serious pathway for the spread of pathogens such as foot-and-mouth disease.
About foot-and-mouth disease
According to the United States’ animal and plant health inspection service, foot-and-mouth disease is a severe, fast-spreading viral disease that primarily affects cloven-hoofed animals, including cows, pigs, sheep, goats and deer.
The service said foot-and-mouth disease is not a human health or food safety threat and is not related to hand, foot and mouth disease, which it described as a common childhood illness caused by a different virus.
How will the nationwide movement ban affect local farmers and livestock operations?
