Cyprus begins animal cull in new foot and mouth scare

(LARNACA) - Cyprus on Sunday began culling 270 sheep suspected of contracting foot and mouth disease on a farm near Larnaca on the south coast, Agriculture Minister Photis Photiou said.

Culled animals are to be buried on the spot at the suspected farm as part of precautionary measures -- in accordance with EU guidelines -- to contain the contagious disease.

Photiou told reporters the action was necessary after the results of new tests on Cyprus sheep indicated the Mediterranean island may be facing its first outbreak of foot and mouth disease in more than 40 years.

The authorities have also extended a three-kilometre (two-mile) protection zone to 10 kilometres around the farm at the centre of the scare in Dromolaxia, close to the island's main international airport at Larnaca, Photiou said.

No animals can be transported within the zone, with all dairy and other products to be destroyed.

If definitive results expected on Monday confirm the outbreak of the highly contagious disease, an estimated 150,000 animals face being culled.

The new alert came just days after an exclusion zone on dozens of farms in the Dromolaxia area was lifted when an earlier scare on another farm just half a kilometre away proved a false alarm.

The new batch of samples sent for analysis at an EU-accredited laboratory in Britain showed a "strong suspicion" the animals on Cyprus had contracted the disease, the agriculture ministry said on Saturday.

"This is the first time that lab results from the overseas laboratory indicate a serious suspicion of foot and mouth," it added.

An EU expert is expected on the island, where the last reported outbreak of foot and mouth disease dates back to 1963, to monitor and evaluate the situation.