Ministry sending vet team to Thessaly
The Agriculture Ministry is sending its entire team of veterinarians to Central Greece starting on Monday as it seeks to get ahead of a serious outbreak of ovine rinderpest, which is threatening to decimate livestock farmers’ sheep and goat flocks in the region of Thessaly.
Minister Kostas Tsiaras issued the emergency deployment order on Friday after cases of the disease starting springing up all over Thessaly following the first reports by shepherds of ailing animals on July 11.
It is thought that the outbreak may have started from sheep and goats purchased by a local company from Turkey, where ovine rinderpest is endemic. According to reports, the animals were sold without a proper health certificate.
Livestock farmers in Central Greece had to replace large numbers of sheep and goats after their flocks were wiped out by massive flooding last September.
