Livestock

A tour agency organizing horse riding tours in the sea of one of the country's tourism hotspots, Antalya's Alanya district, has sparked outrage among animal rights activists, with experts warning that it could pose serious damage to the horses.

Fresh cases of goat plague, also known as Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), have been detected in the Vartholomio area of Ilia, southern Greece, according to reports on Wednesday.

This marks the second instance of the disease being identified in the area, following an earlier outbreak in a nearby livestock unit in early August.

Teams carry out inspections on a farm in the region of Thessaly, central Greece. The General Directorate of Veterinary Medicine at the Ministry of Rural Development and Food has announced a partial revision of the restrictive measures to prevent the spread of sheep plague, based on epidemiological data.

The competent veterinary services have completed the second phase of the clinical examination and sampling of sheep and goat holdings located in the five protection and surveillance zones for goat and sheep disease in Western Greece.

Four herds of sheep and goats, where confirmed cases of plague have been detected, along with another flock adjacent to one of the infected farms, will be culled as part of the

Greece said on Friday that it would partially lift a ban on transporting sheep and goats that it imposed last month after goat plague was detected in the country.

Livestock breeders are making anguished calls for an arrangement to be found, so that at least some slaughterhouses can be opened in the areas where there are no cases of the cattle plague that has swept through the country. The closure of slaughterhouses due to cattle plague is bearing hard on breeders.

The wholesale meat market at Rentis now sells lambs from Romania and Spain, as local slaughterhouses have shut down as part of the effort to eradicate cattle plague.

The Agriculture and Forestry Ministry has imposed a ban on the fishing of some endemic species, according to a new regulation published in the Official Gazette on Aug. 11.

Concerned about the rise in the price of lamb and goat meet, the Ministry of Development has conducted two inspections at the wholesale meat market, on Wednesday and Thursday. 

Officials say the extent of a disease that has hit sheep and goats, and the number of diseased animals put down as a result, is fairly limited and should not lead to such price hikes.