Cyprus is seeing early signs that its vaccination campaign against foot-and-mouth disease is working, with the spread of the virus now showing clear signs of slowing, a senior official said on Thursday.
Stavros Malas, head of the Special Scientific Committee for the Reconstruction and Upgrade of the Livestock Sector, said the situation remains serious but stable and expressed cautious optimism that current containment levels could hold.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency on the sidelines of an event at the Cyprus Institute, where he serves as president, Malas said vaccination efforts have made a real difference.
“The vaccination has worked, that much is clear,” he said. “The spread is no longer at the pace we saw in the early stages of the outbreak.” Malas added that while the disease has not been fully eliminated in affected areas, authorities are now focused on carrying out comprehensive inspections to map the outbreak’s stabilization.
“We remain optimistic that we can keep things at current levels and eventually restart planning for full recovery,” he said, warning, however, that the outbreak will have a lasting impact on Cyprus’ livestock industry.