"We are still at the beginning" in dealing with the foot-and-mouth disease crisis, Senior Veterinary Officer of the Veterinary Services Sotiria Georgiadou told CNA, noting that combating it could take six months, and this will depend largely on the progress of vaccinations.
In her statements to CNA and when asked about when the disease will be considered to have been combated, Ms. Georgiadou said that this will happen when the virus stops being detected in the country. In a supplementary question about when it is estimated that this will happen, she said that it may take up to six months. "We are still at the beginning. It depends on the evolution of the disease and vaccinations," she said.
Regarding when Cyprus will return to the status of a country free from foot-and-mouth disease, which has been suspended by the World Organization for Animal Health, Ms. Georgiadou said that this will happen a few months after the point at which the active virus completely stops being detected in animals in Cyprus.
Ms. Georgiadou then explained that the virus does not lead to 100% death in animals, however there are animal deaths due to foot-and-mouth disease. What leads to killing and mass vaccinations is the fact that milk production in animals infected with the virus is greatly reduced and that these animals do not recover easily.
As he said, the issue is not only the specific units where the virus was detected, but the fact that the virus is very contagious, transmits very quickly and spreads. "If we were to let it go, in a month Cyprus would be full of the virus due to the movements, the buying and selling of animals, the movements of livestock farmers and vehicles and then we would see a dramatic reduction in milk production at a rate that could reach 50%," he said.
Ms. Georgiadou noted that in addition to the economic impacts due to the reduction in milk and meat domestically, there are consequences for exports as other countries are placing embargoes on Cyprus due to the transmissibility of the virus through products that are not subject to the boiling process.
He then explained that the reason we will not have any impact on halloumi exports is due to the boiling of the milk during its preparation, a process that kills the virus.
Ms. Georgiadou noted that the reason animals are being killed, since the virus is not transmitted to humans, is to ensure the quality and adequacy of livestock in the country, as as long as the virus exists there is a risk of a vicious cycle that would lead to greatly reduced milk production, a ban on exports and consequently huge economic impacts.
Regarding vaccinations, Ms. Georgiadou said that the vaccination includes a double vaccine initially and a booster afterwards, while she noted that throughout the vaccinations, re-evaluation will be carried out and laboratory monitoring will be carried out to see how the animal population reacts so that appropriate decisions can be made.
Source: KYPE
