ATHENS — To get a grip on a deadly animal plague — and save Cyprus’ famous Halloumi cheese — the country’s farmers are willing to do whatever it takes, including slaughtering entire herds.
But only if the Turkish Cypriots who share the island are willing to do the same.
For the virus driving a highly contagious outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, the 180-kilometer demilitarized zone that has separated the Republic of Cyprus from the Turkish-controlled north since 1974 is completely irrelevant. However, approaches to reining it in vary depending on which side of the so-called Green Line you’re on: The Republic of Cyprus imposes EU regulations and orders the culling of entire herds if even one animal in one unit is infected. The Turkish north is not obliged to do so.
Agricultural organizations and authorities say that coordinated action with the Turkish Cypriots is the only way to successfully contain the disease.
“Cyprus is a single entity; it is a pastoral entity; the environment, the sun and the air cannot be divided, they are all one,”said Panikos Chambas, president of Cyprus Cooperative Company. “We are a single yard and the same rules should apply to everyone.”
The disease threatens to wipe out the island’s entire livestock sector and jeopardizes the production of Cypriot Halloumi cheese. With annual production exceeding 45,000 tons, of which 42,000 are exported, it’s Cyprus’ second-largest export product, valued at €345 million last year.
Production crisis
Halloumi production was already under pressure.
Some 80 percent of the milk produced in Cyprus is used to make Halloumi cheese. The firm, salty and spongy-textured delicacy is traditionally made from a mixture of sheep and goat milk — a recipe affirmed in a recent Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status meant to boost value by ensuring authenticity of EU goods.
The industry was already in a production crisis, according to the producers. Cheesemakers are struggling to find enough sheep and goat milk to satisfy the high demand, often resorting to cow’s milk (an adjustment discouraged by the PDO rules, but nonetheless permitted).
For now, Cypriot authorities and cheesemakers say that Halloumi exports do not appear to be affected — if the spread of foot-and-mouth disease is contained. The virus carries no risk to the safety of the cheese.
What is causing concern is the number of animal culls, according to Michalis Koullouros, representative of the Cypriot Cheesemakers Association. “If a large number of animals are culled, we will lose the milk, and Halloumi production will inevitably be affected,” he said.
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) affects cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, sheep, pigs and goats. It causes blister-like lesions to appear on the mouth and feet. Although it poses no threat to humans, it can have devastating consequences for cattle, sheep and pig populations, resulting in significant economic losses. The U.K. farming industry was devastated by an outbreak of the disease in 2001, with over 2,000 farms affected and more than six million animals slaughtered.
The first case on the island appeared in the Turkish north on Dec. 16, and Cypriot authorities believe it jumped to northern Cyprus from neighboring Turkey. The disease appeared in the Republic of Cyprus on Feb. 20 and, since then, it has affected around 5.5 percent of the livestock population.
Vaccinate vs. cull
With the disjointed approach, Cypriot farmers expect that number to grow.
Cyprus has been divided into a Turkish Cypriot north and a Greek Cypriot south since Turkish forces invaded in 1974 in response to a coup backed by Greece. Ankara does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus, which is an EU member country recognized internationally as the sole sovereign authority over the whole island. The Turkish Cypriot north is recognized only by Ankara.
More than half a century later, the dispute is playing out in conflicting rules for handling the animal disease outbreak. Turkish authorities have opted to use vaccination alone to manage the outbreak. But immunization doesn’t fully prevent the spread, and EU guidelines say it should only be used while waiting to eventually cull animals that might have been exposed.
“Almost half of the island is handling the virus completely differently from us, with vaccinations,” said Thomas Thoma, Nicosia district secretary of the Cypriot Farmers’ Union. “Neither we nor the EU have control over this.”
Both sides of the island say they want to cooperate — and blame the other for not getting on board.
“When the FMD emerged, we shared information transparently and did not conceal anything,” Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman said in a statement. Officials on the north side had even delivered vaccines to the south, he added. “We expect the same approach to be adopted in the south, with the committees composed of relevant officials, regular information sharing ensured, work results-oriented and daily issues resolved free from political considerations.”
An official from the Turkish north said mass culling is not off the table, but it is still under consideration.
Brussels firm on culling
The Cypriot government asked Brussels to ease the culling requirement, given that it only applies to half the island. The request has been denied.
“If we don’t act, and allow the disease to spread, the entire island could become infected — and that would mean losing all its livestock. We cannot allow that,’ said Animal Welfare Commissioner Oliver Várhelyi during a recent visit to the island, maintaining that culling of potentially exposed herds is the only solution.
The EU does have some leverage in the Turkish-controlled area: The community is eligible for some €30 million from the EU budget annually (and has already received some €728 million since 2006).
“Brussels has to step in and force them to implement EU regulations,” Christos Papapetrou, president of the Pan-Agricultural Union of Cyprus. “Once Cyprus is cleared and new vaccinated animals arrive, the virus will still be present and we’ll become infected again from the north.”
Yet, perhaps ironically, Brussels’ most visible assistance to the north has been in the form of vaccines that it does not consider sufficient in the south: In February, the Commission sent 500,000 vaccine doses to Cyprus for use in the Turkish-controlled area.
Farmers in the Republic of Cyprus have resorted to protests. Last month, for example, farmers gathered outside the presidential palace with a coffin.
“We demand an end to the slaughter of healthy and asymptomatic animals,” the breeders wrote in a letter to the president. “The blind application of protocols that send entire herds to the slaughterhouse when the animals are not even ill constitutes an economic and ethical crime.”
Ketrin Jocechová contributed to this report from Brussels.
Disease and division threaten Halloumi in new Cyprus-Turkey spat
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