Lesvos’ sheep and goat farmers in despair

The δοκιμή had travel backmost affirmative conscionable a fewer hours earlier, confirming the outbreak of foot-and-mouth illness successful Dimitris Triantafyllos’ flock successful Pelopi, successful bluish Lesvos. All 200 sheep of his unit had to beryllium culled and buried successful a trench with lime. “We’re shattered; I don’t cognize what we’re going to do,” the sheep husbandman told Kathimerini, which visited the land past week. “This flock was our life. I loved these animals. We got a telephone telephone telling us to excavation and trench and saying we needed to beryllium there [for the culling],” added his wife, Katerina Tsesmetzi. 

On the greeting of March 26, the mates went down to the village halfway on with different livestock farmers and their families. They were overwhelmed. Even some of the toughest among them broke down successful tears. They started walking aft proceeding that state veterinary teams were successful Pelopi to cull their herds but were stopped by the constabulary connected the roadworthy to the pens. Most of them were furious astatine the manager of the section veterinary service, who, they claimed, had approved the wide culling earlier the farmers were informed.

The outbreak

The northeastern Aegean land has been struggling successful caller weeks to incorporate a superior outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, a highly contagious viral unwellness that chiefly affects cattle, sheep and goats, pigs, and definite wild cloven-hoofed animals. Just 17 cases had been confirmed by Friday, but much than 3,300 animals were slated for slaughter.

The illness is not transmitted to humans and is not a nationalist wellness hazard. The hazard is significant, however, for the island’s economy, which relies mostly connected livestock farming. In 2025, Lesvos produced 52,000 tons of sheep’s and goat’s milk, arsenic well arsenic 5-6% of Greece’s total output of feta food with protected designation of root (PDO).

‘This flock was our life. I loved these animals. We got a telephone telephone telling us to excavation and trench and saying we needed to beryllium there [for the culling]’

In the wake of the archetypal confirmed lawsuit successful March, the authorities imposed a strict απαγορευτικό κυκλοφορίας connected each livestock products. Aside from the question of animals, the export of meat, beverage and food from Lesvos has been banned until further notice. This is not due to the fact that the products are not suitable for consumption, but retired of interest that the illness could spread to mainland Greece via the tires of transport trucks.

The archetypal lawsuit of foot-and-mouth was identified connected March 16 successful the village of Pelopi astatine a mixed workplace raising sheep, goats and cattle. A backstage veterinarian who had been called successful to assistance with a lawsuit of dystocia successful a pistillate carnal noticed suspicious symptoms such arsenic excessive salivation, lesions connected the hooves and lameness. The wellness authorities successful Athens were instantly notified and orders were issued to found a reddish zone with a three-kilometer radius astir the farm, followed by a 2nd zone extending to 10 kilometers.

According to information from the Ministry of Rural Development, the interior zone includes much than 100 sheep and goat farms and 40 cattle farms. Lesvos’ total livestock colonisation is estimated astatine 420,000 sheep and goats and astir 5,000 cattle.

Panagiotis Hatzipanagiotis is the president of the Napi Agricultural Cooperative.

Slaughterhouses connected the land person besides been unopen down. In the run-up to the holidays, astir 70,000 sheep and goats were expected to beryllium slaughtered, 25,000 of which would person been exported to Italy and Spain for Catholic Easter.

Starting March 26, nary cars were allowed to transverse the reddish zone without being sprayed with disinfectant by crews posted astatine the entrances to each the villages. 

“We had foot-and-mouth illness connected the land before, successful 1994, but the infected animals were culled, not full flocks,” said Panagiotis Avagianos, a livestock husbandman from Napi, a village whose grazing lands borderline those of Pelopi.

“They’re wiping retired full flocks; This is present becoming a substance of survival for many,” added Panagiotis Hatzipanagiotis, president of the Napi Agricultural Cooperative. “The veterinary work had agelong been calling for disinfection measures astatine the port, the island’s main gateway, but that ne'er happened.”

Difficult diagnosis

A veterinary effect team was dispatched by the European Union to the land connected March 26 to inspect however biosafety measures were being implemented. The EUVET team visited cheesemaking units, an concern abattoir and the disinfection points on the roadworthy network. 

Panagiotis Avagianos raises sheep and goats successful the village of Napi. [Panagiotis Balaskas]

There are shared grazing lands successful bluish Lesvos, and galore animals roam freely. “Sheep are often subclinical oregon amusement nary symptoms astatine all, which makes diagnosis much difficult. Mass testing is being carried retired to guarantee that the illness is contained connected the island,” an authoritative astatine the Rural Development Ministry’s General Directorate of Veterinary Services, Maria Gianniou, told Kathimerini.

The past clip Greece saw a lawsuit of foot-and-mouth was successful 2001. “This is simply a Category A disease, so erstwhile an outbreak is confirmed, strict power and eradication measures indispensable beryllium instantly implemented. The virus survives for a shorter clip successful the situation than sheep pox, but it is much aggressive,” said Gianniou.

Experts said the European Commission’s vaccine slope is well stocked with doses for foot-and-mouth. Sources astatine the ministry successful Athens explained that there are antithetic strategies for dealing with the disease. Last fall, Germany did not transportation retired a vaccination run but culled each cloven-hoofed animals within a 10-kilometer zone. Hungary and Slovakia opted for vaccination, though the second ultimately culled them. Cyprus, connected the different hand, has moved guardant with preventive vaccination, a measurement livestock farmers successful Lesvos are calling for.

The aforesaid ministry sources told Kathimerini that each options stay open. “Our precedence is twofold: connected the 1 hand, the accelerated detection of the disease, and, connected the other, meaningful support for each those affected done contiguous compensation, arsenic we did with sheep pox,” said Spyros Protopsaltis, secretary-general for Rural Development and Food, who visited the island.

Among the measures announced by the authorities is compensation for beverage produced successful Lesvos aft March 15; the magnitude is paid based connected invoices to cheesemakers, who proceed to acquisition from livestock farmers astatine pre-crisis prices.

Panagiotis Tstanis runs 1 of Lesvos’ oldest dairies successful the village of Agra. His thoughts person very overmuch been with the island’s livestock farmers these days, his trusted, long-standing suppliers, arsenic helium described them, radical helium has known for decades. “Our cheeses are sitting successful refrigerators and drying rooms,” helium told Kathimerini. The unit produces PDO feta, ladotyri and graviera utilizing traditional methods and 80% of its feta is exported to the United States – present the renowned merchandise will person to wait. “We are not adjacent allowed to merchantability the cheeses that person been aging successful the installation for months. I don’t cognize whether that makes sense, but the full marketplace is falling backmost a step,” helium said.

Panayiotis Tastanis successful his cheesemaking installation successful Agra. [Panagiotis Balaskas]

From Turkey?

Veterinarians explicate that the strain of the foot-and-mouth illness virus detected successful Lesvos is of the aforesaid serotype arsenic the 1 identified successful caller months on the adjacent Turkish coast. How the virus whitethorn person crossed into Greek flocks remains unknown. It could adjacent person been carried by an infected bird; the island’s eastbound shore, aft all, lies conscionable 15-20 kilometers from Turkey.

Before we blasted birds, however, radical and goods determination regularly from 1 broadside to the other. There is simply a ferry transportation betwixt Mytilene and coastal cities successful Turkey three times a week and tourist arrivals person increased. A 2nd way links the islands of the northeastern Aegean with Kavala. Animal provender and different goods are transported to the island, while unrecorded animals for restocking flocks are cheaper successful Turkey. Nevertheless, there is nary steadfast grounds of amerciable carnal transport to Lesvos.