Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will chair a meeting at the Maximos Mansion today focusing on implementing biosafety measures to combat the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak affecting sheep and goats. The meeting will include leadership from the Ministry of Rural Development, along with Professor Charalampos Billinis, chairman of the National Scientific Committee for Foot-and-Mouth Disease Management and Control (NSCDMC) and Rector of the University of Thessaly, and Katerina Marinou, General Director of Veterinary Services at the Ministry of Rural Development and Food.
Four regional governors from areas affected by the zoonotic disease will participate:
-Athena Athanasiadou-Aidona, Central Macedonia Region,
-Dimitris Kouretas, Thessaly Region Governor,
-Nektarios Farmakis, Western Greece Region Governor,
-Christodoulos Topsidis, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Region Governor,
Additionally, Epirus Region Governor Alexandros Kachrimanis will attend, representing a region with significant livestock activity where the zoonotic disease has been successfully contained. His participation is considered essential to share insights on effective disease management strategies.
Committee’s assessment on vaccination strategy
The National Scientific Committee for Foot-and-Mouth Disease Management and Control (NSCDMC) has dismissed the “vaccine versus biosafety” dilemma as false, responding to recent speculation and emphasizing that no tool can be effective without strict implementation of safety measures.
The committee has stressed that the only responsible strategy for eradicating the zoonotic disease is faithful implementation of scientifically proven measures, requiring cooperation from all involved agencies, from the Ministry of Rural Development and Food and regional authorities to the Hellenic Police and Coast Guard.
Since last October, the NSCDMC and the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, after evaluating all available data, concluded that mass vaccination would worsen the situation. Available vaccines contain live virus with reduced pathogenic potential, and given the disease’s strong pathogenic capacity, their use under inadequate biosafety conditions risks further spread rather than containment.
To combat the zoonotic disease, the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, in cooperation with all competent services, has implemented foot-and-mouth disease containment measures.
The current European framework mandates stamping out procedures, protection zones, and strict movement restrictions. Among other measures, protection and surveillance zones of 3km and 10km have been established around outbreak sites with complete animal movement bans and deployment of military veterinarians.
