Farmers were on Tuesday warned that failing to implement the European Union’s regulations and thereby culling animals infected with foot and mouth disease could see Cyprus run the risk of being unable to export halloumi to the rest of the bloc.

Veterinary association chairman Demetris Epaminondas was asked about the prospect on CyBC radio, and said that “if EU legislation is not implemented, then there is a risk that the export of halloumi from Cyprus will be banned”.

He also dismissed claims made by Stella Petrou, a representative of a newly established organisation named ‘the voice of livestock breeders’, who said that there may be “alternative European protocols” which could allow Cyprus to avoid culling infected animals.

To this end, he said that “European legislation regarding the treatment of the disease is unified,” and made it clear that no such “alternative protocols” exist.

“Europe has chosen the extreme strategy of eradicating the problem. This leaves no room for any differentiation in the measures taken in any of the member states,” he said.

Asked whether some animals may test positive for foot and mouth disease if they possess antibodies as a result of having been vaccinated against the disease, he said that “it is possible to differentiate vaccine antibodies from antibodies which have developed due to natural infection”.

Petrou, meanwhile, said that farmers remain dissatisfied with the government’s actions on the matter, and said that her organisation will make decisions on its “next steps” on Tuesday night before announcing its intentions on Wednesday.

She added that farmers do not intend to block access to international airports, but instead plan to “focus” on the Presidential palace and “cities’ central arterial roads”.

Her organisation was formed a week ago and said at the time that it aims to highlight “the serious issues which have arisen in the sector”.

Among other things, it calls for alternatives to the culling of livestock in light of the outbreak, though European Union law stipulates that if an animal is found to have foot and mouth disease, every animal on the farm must be culled.

More than 30,000 animals have already been culled, with Epaminondas having said previously that there is “no less painful alternative” to culling when attempting to stem the spread of the disease.

He also stressed that vaccinations of animals cannot replace culling as a method of preventing the disease’s spread, as the vaccine’s aim is “to limit the transmissibility of the disease”.

“Even a vaccinated animal, if it is found to test positive, must be culled,” he said, before going on to say that animals can remain infectious for four to six months.

He added that allowing infected animals to live also entails the “risk that the virus will be transmitted further either by air, or by machinery, or in any other way which would affect other units”.

“That is why these extreme measures are being taken,” he said.