New cases of Foot and Mouth disease were detected in 11 livestock units in Livadia and Oroklini, senior veterinary officer Sotiria Georgiadou said on Sunday, bringing the total of infected farms to 22.

Initially, she continued, animals identified as infected amounted to 13,000, while the new cases concern around 2,000 cases in Livadia and about 200 animals in three small livestock units in Oroklini.

“Depending on the births of the animals, we may reach up to 16,000 thousand infected animals,” she added.

Speaking about the 529,000 vaccine doses that arrived on Saturday from the EU, she said their distribution to private vets to start vaccinations began on Saturday night.

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“So far from all the completed laboratory tests carried out, the infected units have risen to 22, after 11 more were identified, eight in Livadia and three in Oroklini. The positive thing, which was expected, is that all the units are within the infected zone,” she added, “which is promising”.

She said the slaughter of animals in the first unit where the disease was located – a sheep and goat farm in Oroklini – would have been completed, while a team has now moved on to Aradippou.

Numbers are approximate she said, as we are in a period when the animals would give birth for the youngsters to be “taken to the slaughterhouse for Easter”.

She stressed that since December 15 – when an outbreak was first recorded in the north – the Republic has taken daily actions to prevent the spread of FMD.

Since the first day a case was found in the Republic, she added, “more than 513 people, together with the agriculture minister are at the Zenon Coordination Centre and other control points to contain foot and mouth disease in the infected area”.

It is very important, she continued, “for each livestock farmer to protect his property and to comply with all the biosecurity measures indicated. We must look the situation in the eye and help everyone”.

By Saturday, 27,000 doses of vaccines had been delivered, so that they could be used in 21 sheep and goat units.

After the detection of new cases, Georgiadou said as the new cases were detected in the infected area, “if we manage to contain them there, we have very high hopes of containing the virus and ending the killing procedures. We will continue with vaccinations and slowly lead to a smoother situation,” she concluded.