Sheep pox triggers animal transport ban across country

In response to a sheep pox outbreak that has led to 146 cases and the culling of 28,109 animals, the Rural Development and Food Ministry has imposed strict movement restrictions on sheep and goats until November 8. Transporting these animals for breeding or fattening within Greece is prohibited, though it is allowed for slaughter in areas free of the disease, including Attica and parts of the Aegean.

In comments to Kathimerini, Giorgos Pappas, a zoonose specialist, warns that zoonotic diseases, accelerated by climate change and environmental disruption, pose a rising threat. Global health crises, he says, are closer than we think. 

With avian flu spreading to cattle in the US and European outbreaks of diseases like brucellosis, Pappas underscores the urgency for effective monitoring.

He stresses that Greece needs stronger disease surveillance as climate shifts...