Larnaca district closes ‘green point’ rubbish tips amid foot and mouth scare

Seven ‘green point’ rubbish tips in the Larnaca district have been closed until further notice amid an ongoing outbreak of foot and mouth disease, district governor Angelos Hadjicharalambous said on Sunday.

He told the Cyprus News Agency that the tips will remain closed “until new data regarding the cases of foot and mouth disease … are evaluated”.

“The public will be informed with announcements soon about when they will reopen based on the developments we will have on the issue next week,” he said, before adding that his district government is working “in cooperation and coordination” with the district’s municipalities and the central government’s veterinary services department.

He also called on the public to “understand the critical situation through which we are going”.

“The main goal of suspending the ‘green points’’ operation is to protect and ensure as little movement as possible so as to ensure that there is no greater spread of the virus to areas other than those in which casers have already occurred,” he said.

The seven ‘green point’ tips operated by the Larnaca district government are located in Aradippou, Dromolaxia, Troulloi, Athienou, Kofinou, Pyrga, and Anaphotia. An eighth ‘green point’ tip, in the town of Larnaca, is thus far unaffected by the closure, as it is operated by the Larnaca municipality and not by the district government.

The announcement comes as the central government in Nicosia banned the movement of animals and animal feed nationwide as attempts continue to combat the outbreak.

The outbreak is centred in the Larnaca boroughs of Oroklini and Livadia, with around 300 animals from an impacted farm in Livadia set to be culled as a result, while all products from the farm, including meat and milk, have been seized.

According to the United States’ animal and plant health inspection service, foot-and-mouth disease is “a severe, fast-spreading viral disease which primarily affects cloven-hoofed animals, including cows, pigs, sheep, goats and deer”.

It also stressed that foot-and-mouth disease is “not a human health or food safety threat”, and that it “is not related” to the similarly named hand, foot and mouth disease, which it said is a “common childhood illness caused by a different virus”.

The disease causes farm animals to suffer from fever and “severe lameness” from blisters on their hooves, mouths, noses and teats, as well as excessive drooling, a sudden drop in milk production, and a loss of appetite, among other symptoms.