Lesvos: three new holdings positive for foot-and-mouth

Three new holdings testing positive for foot-and-mouth disease were announced by the Veterinary Directorate of the North Aegean Region for Lesvos, on the basis of the results of the sample checks of Tuesday 18 August. Two of the holdings are at Agia Paraskevi and the third at Napi, areas belonging to the zone where restrictive measures have already been applied. The finding reverses the picture of the previous day, since the checks of Monday 17 August had not identified a single positive case and had created the expectation that the curve was receding. “The results confirm that the animal disease is still in circulation, keeping the veterinary services on heightened alert,” the relevant briefing notes.

Foot-and-mouth disease is one of the most contagious diseases of cloven-hoofed animals, that is cattle, sheep and goats and pigs, and is not transmitted to humans. This point matters, because with every wave of cases there is public health anxiety that does not correspond to the epidemiological data. The virus is transmitted extremely easily through direct contact between animals, but also through vehicles, tools, animal feed and clothing, which is why the measures focus on movement restrictions, disinfection and surveillance of the holdings around each positive finding. The problem is above all economic and agricultural, with loss of milk production, culling of animals and a ban on the movement of products.

For Lesvos the cost is disproportionate to the size of the island, since sheep and goat farming is the backbone of the agricultural economy and supplies local cheesemaking. StoNisi reports losses of 24 million euros for the island’s livestock farmers, a figure expressly attributed to that particular report and not confirmed by any institutional body. Regardless of the accuracy of that particular number, the chain of consequences is known from previous episodes: beyond the animals that are culled, those in restriction zones without a case are also hit, because they cannot sell animals or milk, while rebuilding a flock takes years.

The coming period will be judged by the continuation of the checks and by whether the new findings remain within the already demarcated zones or appear in new areas. It has not been announced how many animals the three holdings involve, nor whether the relevant procedures have been completed, details that are usually made public later. The payment of compensation to livestock farmers is also pending, an issue that has been raised repeatedly by local bodies. The development of the animal disease is being monitored within the framework of veterinary surveillance and concerns both the health of animal populations and the economy of an area where livestock farming has no alternative.