FMD hits farms and markets

Foot-and-mouth disease is shutting off trade far beyond infected pens, with farmers on Lesvos blocking a port and Botswana tightening slaughter controls. (pigprogress.net) (gov.bw) The disease is a fast-spreading livestock virus that hits cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and other cloven-hoofed animals; the World Organisation for Animal Health says it carries major economic costs even when human health is not the issue. (woah.org) On Lesvos, the number of infected farms reached 22 by April 16, and producers blocked the port of Mytilene after movement controls left milk and cheese stuck on the island. Pig Progress reported that no pig farms had been infected. (pigprogress.net) Greek officials first confirmed the outbreak on Lesvos in mid-March, and the United Kingdom’s animal-health authorities said Greece’s previous recorded foot-and-mouth outbreaks were in 2000 nationally and in 1994 on Lesvos. (ekathimerini.com) (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk) The clash is over what can move and what cannot. Lesvos producers say mature dairy products should be allowed off the island, while the restrictions have already shut cheese plants and disrupted ferry traffic tied to tourism and trade. (en.protothema.gr) (greekreporter.com) In Botswana, the government said on April 2 that foot-and-mouth disease had been detected at the Ramatlabama National Artificial Insemination Laboratory and Training Centre in Goodhope District, inside disease control zone 11. (gov.bw) Botswana then barred movement of cloven-hoofed animals into and out of zones 3b and 7, while allowing limited permit-based movement within those zones for direct slaughter at licensed facilities. Slaughter for social events in those zones was restricted to registered slaughter facilities. (gov.bw) The country has widened infected areas more than once this year. Farmers Weekly reported that an Extraordinary Government Gazette published on April 4 expanded control zones, while the World Organisation for Animal Health lists Botswana foot-and-mouth notifications on January 30 and April 2. (farmersweekly.co.za) (rr-africa.woah.org) That matters for Botswana’s beef economy because disease zoning underpins where animals, meat and fresh products can legally move. The government said last month it had lifted some product-movement restrictions in disease-free zones after surveillance found no spread beyond affected areas at that stage. (na.co.bw) (gov.bw) The wider map is shifting too. On April 15, the World Organisation for Animal Health said foot-and-mouth disease serotype SAT 1 had spread beyond its historical African range into parts of Southern Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. (woah.org) For farmers and butchery owners, the immediate question is not whether the virus is costly but how long controls last. On Lesvos, producers are pressing Athens for compensation and product movement; in Botswana, traders are adjusting to tighter permits and slaughter rules while surveillance continues. (pigprogress.net) (gov.bw)