Greece bans sheep transport as new plague cases found

Athens: Greece's agriculture ministry on Monday banned the transport of sheep and goats around the country as a highly contagious ruminants plague surfaced in more areas following a July 11 outbreak. The outbreak, which officials linked to imported livestock, has led to the cull of thousands of animals in the Mediterranean country, with nearly 10,000 earmarked for slaughter. Get exclusive content with Gulf News WhatsApp channel "The movement of sheep and goats for breeding, fattening and slaughter is banned across the country," the ministry said in a statement. It said its vets had found cases of sheep and goat plague in the regions of Corinth and Larissa after tracing "the route followed by animals imported from a specific country". Later Monday, another case was found in the greater Athens area west of the capital, deputy agriculture minister Christos Kellas told state broadcaster ERT, bringing the total number of animals affected to more than a dozen. The sick animals were ...