Dialogos

Foot-and-Mouth Disease Alert: Immediate Vaccination of Thousands of Animals - What the Scientific Committee will Decide

Published February 25, 2026, 09:02
Foot-and-Mouth Disease Alert: Immediate Vaccination of Thousands of Animals - What the Scientific Committee will Decide

An alert has been issued in Cyprus regarding foot-and-mouth disease, and the vaccination of thousands of animals is set to begin immediately. The first batch, consisting of 10,000 vaccines, was delivered from the Turkish Cypriot side, with a second batch of the same quantity to follow next week. The vaccines come from the stock of 500,000 vaccines granted by the European Commission to the Turkish Cypriot community. The Greek Cypriot Co-President of the Bi-Communal Health Committee, Leonidas Phylactou, stated that the delivery of the vaccines was delayed due to the procurement process, which was completed recently. The committee maintains contact with the Turkish Cypriot side to cooperate on health matters and information has been exchanged regarding the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. Meanwhile, the President of the Veterinary Association expects to be informed by the state services about the assistance needed from private veterinarians to implement the vaccination program. The large number of animals to be vaccinated is expected to require the contribution of private veterinarians. Regarding the vaccination plan, it is expected to be based on EU best practices and adapted to the experience of the members of the Scientific Committee, taking into account proven effectiveness in dealing with foot-and-mouth disease in other countries. The aim is to reduce the spread of the disease through vaccination.