EU confirms foot and mouth on Cyprus

(LARNACA) - EU experts confirmed on Monday that Cyprus is in the midst of its first outbreak of foot and mouth disease for more than 40 years, Agriculture Minister Photis Photiou told AFP.

"A specialist from the EU has confirmed from clinical symptoms that there is foot and mouth on Cyprus after visiting the farms in question," said Photiou.

He said the European Commission has issued an export ban on Cyprus meat and dairy products while imposing a blanket ban on the transport of animals across the island.

"These are temporary measures and the commission will take a final decision on what to do next tomorrow (Tuesday)," said the minister.

The development is a huge blow to the sector and sure to have a negative impact on the Cyprus economy.

Tests confirmed that foot and mouth was present in goats and sheep at two farms in the village of Dromolaxia near Larnaca on the south coast, an area of intensive animal husbandry.

Definitive laboratory results from Britain were expected either later Monday or Tuesday.

Photiou said there would be a step-by-step approach to the cull but the final animal death toll would depend on EU instructions.

"We are taking all the measures requested by the EU and we don't yet know how many animals will be killed but we expect more to be culled."

Some 330 suspected goats and sheep were killed early Monday with more culling planned.

An extended 10-kilometre (two-mile) protection zone is enforced around the farms at the centre of the outbreak close to the island's main international airport at Larnaca.

An estimated 150,000 animals are within the exclusion zone, representing around a third of the island's total livestock.

Culled animals are being buried on the spot at the suspected sites as part an EU-monitored action plan to contain the highly contagious disease.

The verification comes 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 (a third of a mile) away proved a false alarm.

A 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.

The last reported outbreak of foot and mouth disease on the island was in 1963.

The government has promised a compensation package -- expected to run into millions of pounds -- to farmers aiming to cover not only the loss of each animal but also loss of income.

The cause of the outbreak is still unknown, although some breeders are blaming it on imported livestock that was not properly checked.