ATHENS: Greece has banned transferring sheep and goats from their farms to attempt to include a viral an infection generally known as “goat plague” after new circumstances had been detected over the weekend, the agriculture ministry mentioned on Monday (Jul 29).
The virus, often known as Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), doesn’t have an effect on people however is extremely contagious amongst goats and sheep and might kill as much as 70 per cent of these contaminated.
About 8,000 animals have been culled and greater than 200,000 examined, primarily within the central Thessaly area the place authorities first detected the outbreak on Jul 11, Georgios Stratakos, a senior agriculture ministry official, instructed Reuters.
Two extra circumstances had been detected at farms within the central Larissa area and within the southern space of Corinth over the weekend, the agriculture ministry mentioned on Monday.
“Tightening the safety measures throughout the nation is deemed crucial for preventive causes and is geared toward limiting the unfold and eradicating the illness,” the ministry mentioned in an announcement.
PPR was first described in Ivory Coast in 1942 and has since unfold the world over. The United Nation’s Meals and Agriculture Group estimates that the illness leads to losses of as much as US$2.1 billion round on this planet annually.
Greece is dwelling to the most important variety of goats in Europe, Stratakos mentioned. Their milk, utilized in Greece’s trademark feta cheese, is a serious financial driver.
As soon as a case is detected, all the flock is culled, the affected farm is disinfected and authorities check animals in close by areas for the illness, in keeping with protocols set by the European Union.
Greece was persevering with the epidemiological evaluation of the circumstances and the route of “presumably suspect imports” to find out the supply for the outbreak, the agriculture ministry mentioned.
