Plague in Greece: 9’000 animals emergency slaughtered

In Greece, more than 9,000 sheep and goats are being emergency slaughtered following the outbreak of Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR).

The Greek Ministry of Agriculture has banned the transport of sheep and goats throughout the country following a disease outbreak.

"The movement of sheep and goats for breeding, fattening and slaughter purposes is prohibited throughout the country," the ministry announced on Monday. The so-called Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) was first detected on 11 July near the city of Kalambaka in the central region of Thessaly. Infected animals have also been discovered in the region of Larissa, the capital of Thessaly, and near Corinth in the more southerly Peloponnese, as the ministry reported.

On Monday, a further case was reported in the Athens region, as Greek broadcaster ERT reported. This makes it clear that more than a dozen animals have fallen ill. The ministry announced that infected animals had already been culled before the onset of symptoms of the disease.

Disease outbreak in Romania

Veterinarians traced the routes of infection and conclusively established that the disease entered Greece via animals imported from abroad. This was stated by the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture did not provide further details about the country of origin of the disease. Greece primarily imports sheep and goats from Romania, Turkey and Albania. This is a direct consequence of the devastating floods of the previous year, which had severely decimated domestic livestock. This was explained by the authority.

Romania declared the outbreak on July 19, eight days after the first case became known in Greece. Romania is an EU member state, so animal imports are not checked for diseases at the border. This was stated by Greek Deputy Agriculture Minister Christos Kellas on the Skai TV channel. In Romania, almost 58,000 sheep and goats had been culled by last Friday.

9’000 Emergency Slaughters in Greece

Since the outbreak began more than two weeks ago, 7’000 animals have already been killed. According to Kellas, this is the largest veterinary operation in the country's history.

Last week it emerged that sheep had been buried alive in some cases. A responsible official at the veterinary office was dismissed. PPR is highly contagious for sheep and goats, but does not transmit to humans. Consuming meat and pasteurized milk from infected animals is also considered safe.

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