Cyprus to cull in suspect foot and mouth outbreak
(Adds cull postponement, para 4)
NICOSIA, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Cyprus said it would cull up to 300 goats and sheep in a suspected outbreak of foot and mouth disease, with thousands more at risk if conclusive test results expected by Monday were positive.
Authorities said they were also extending a quarantine zone around two suspect farms in the southern district of Larnaca.
On Nov. 2, a European Union laboratory informed Cyprus samples taken from one farm showed a high probability of the disease. Final results were expected on Monday.
"We will cull between 270 and 300 sheep and goats today," said Agriculture Minister Photis Photiou on Sunday. But the scheduled cull did not go ahead after angry farmers blocked the entrance to the two farms.
It was expected to go ahead on Monday.
Cyprus has not had a foot and mouth outbreak since the early sixties, and any verification would have a devastating impact on the island's animal husbandry industry. More than 100,000 animals were at risk.
European Union veterinary officials were due in Cyprus on Monday.
Authorities in Cyprus are puzzled at an apparent false alarm in late October, when their tests on another flock of sheep in the same area came up positive for foot and mouth, but EU test results came up negative.
The Larnaca district is a farming-intensive area with many cattle farms. Cloven-hoofed animals are particularly vulnerable to foot and mouth, which is airborne and highly contagious.
The veterinary services extended a three-kilometre control zone to 10 km and banned transport of animals.
Foot and mouth is harmless to humans but is devastating to livestock. Infected animals develop blisters on their hooves and mouths, and they have to be put down.
Agriculture, including animal farming, represents just 2.8 percent of Cyprus's gross domestic product but the island is generally self-sufficient in its supply of meat, milk and dairy products.
