The spread to pig farms significantly complicates the operational landscape and shows that the measures implemented so far have not performed as they should. When a crisis expands instead of being contained, the state cannot hide behind general statements. It must provide answers, identify which links in the chain failed, and immediately restore the trust of producers.
Foot-and-mouth disease has brought livestock farming to its knees. We have not managed to sufficiently contain the spread of the virus, we have already lost a significant portion of our livestock, and, according to the farmers themselves, one in two may not be able to return to production. This is not just a difficult situation, it is a failure of management with heavy social, economic, and productive costs for rural areas and the country’s food security.
At the same time, the government is underestimating a critical dimension of the crisis: the psychological exhaustion of livestock farmers. The damage is not only financial but also human; grief, anxiety, and uncertainty about the future. Psychological strain is part of the crisis and must be treated as such.
Yet in Cyprus, it continues to be treated as secondary. A producer watching their unit collapse cannot be expected to cooperate with difficult measures without transparency, adequate information, and meaningful support.
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