The 500,000 doses of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine delivered on Friday by the European Commission to the Republic of Cyprus were handed over to the Turkish Cypriots on the same day, the Director of Veterinary Services, Christodoulos Pipis, told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) on Saturday. At the same time, he assured that the appropriate checks have been carried out for possible incidents in areas controlled by the government of the Republic of Cyprus, with the results of the tests being negative.
Pipis noted that he personally received the vaccine doses from the European Commission on Friday on behalf of the Republic of Cyprus, adding that the doses were transferred to Nicosia and delivered the same day to Turkish Cypriots through the Bicommunal Technical Committee for Health. Vaccines were handed over at the Ledra Palace checkpoint, he said.
Asked if the Veterinary Services of the Republic of Cyprus are informed about the state of play of the FMD outbreak in the Turkish-occupied areas, Christodoulos Pipis answered negatively, pointing out that the Turkish Cypriots “are not telling us anything beyond what they made known through the team of experts who came and that they have carried out the second vaccination in the 3 cattle breeding units in Lapathos village. Beyond that, they have not mentioned anything else, and we do not know anything.”
The Director of the Veterinary Services explained to CNA that the 500,000 doses of the vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease are intended for the vaccination of small ruminants, namely sheep and goats and other animals.
Referring to the actions of the Republic of Cyprus to address the situation, Pipis pointed out that “we are implementing the measures foreseen by the surveillance carried out in the units along the ceasefire line.”
He also noted that “we have carried out the checks recommended by the European Commission in order to identify potential incidents in a timely manner”, adding that “fortunately the results of the investigations and laboratory tests were all negative”.
“However, it remains a mystery how the incident occurred in only 3 cattle breeding units in Lapathos village”, he concluded.