The recent detection of sheep and goat plague in Greece is resulting in a “big loss of income” for farmers, a 300-ewe milk supplier near the centre of the outbreak has said.

Michalis Avdanas milks dairy ewes in Thessaly, Greece’s agricultural heartland, where the disease was first detected on 11 July.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, he said his flock is currently clear of the virus, officially known as peste des petits ruminants (PPR), but there are indirect impacts, with flocks permanently housed.

“The country's slaughterhouses have closed and this prohibits us from slaughtering lambs.

“Also, the grazing of meadows has been forbidden and thus our animals have been stressed with the result that milk produced decreases."

Michalis Avdanas. \ European Union 2024, Cornelia Smet

“In general, we have a big loss of income. As for the biosecurity of the unit, we have taken all the measures and have forbidden any visit by others to the unit.

“Only the milk delivery barrel enters, which is fully disinfected before entering with the appropriate biocidal disinfectants,” he added.

Farmers in Thessaly were hit by two bouts of devastating flooding in 2023, with many in the area still recovering from these events.

Ban

The Greek government has imposed a ban on the commercial slaughtering of sheep and goats in the past week. Movement of the animals for breeding purposes has also been prohibited.

So far, 10,000 sheep have been culled in Greece as a result of the virus. The outbreak has intensified in the past week and is also affecting Romania.

PPR is highly contagious for small ruminants, killing between 30% and 100% of infected animals, according to information from Ireland's Department of Agriculture.

However, this figure has been put at 70% by local media for the current situation in Greece.

PPR was first introduced in the EU in 2018 via an outbreak in Bulgaria. PPR was first reported in the Ivory Coast in 1942 and is considered an endemic.

The virus is closely related to rinderpest virus, which has been eradicated globally, but caused widespread deaths in cattle in the past. PPR does not affect humans.

PPR has never been reported in Ireland.

Sectoral importance

There are over nine million sheep in Greece, with the sector described as the most important national livestock farming activity.

It accounts for 33% of total livestock farming and 8% of agricultural activity.

The sector is based on milking sheep for the production of speciality cheeses (of which Feta cheese is the most famous), yoghurt and other dairy products.

There are in excess of 41,000 farmers involved in milking sheep, compared with over 15,000 farmers milking goats and just 2,500 dairy cow farms.