500,000 vaccines on the way as Cyprus battles spreading foot and mouth disease

Cyprus is pushing for urgent help from Brussels as concerns grow over foot-and-mouth disease in what has become a fast-moving story over the past several days.

Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou met Monday with European Health Commissioner Oliver Várhelyi and Agriculture Commissioner Christoph Hansen on the sidelines of the EU’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels.

Her message was straightforward: Cyprus needs financial support for livestock farmers, and it needs vaccines, fast.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency after the meeting, Panayiotou said she formally requested financial assistance for farmers affected by the outbreak. Both commissioners responded positively, she said, and the official process to unlock support will now begin.

For farmers already on edge, that could offer some breathing room. Foot-and-mouth disease spreads quickly among cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, sheep and goats, and even the suspicion of outbreaks can bring movement restrictions and serious economic losses.

But the bigger urgency right now is vaccination.

Panayiotou said she pressed Várhelyi to immediately start the process of transporting vaccines to Cyprus. His response, she said, was clear: the process would begin Tuesday.

“He has promised that the process will begin tomorrow,” she said, adding that the commissioner is expected to visit Cyprus later this week for another engagement, a visit that will now also include coordination on the outbreak response.

The goal, she said, is to begin vaccinations within days.

When asked whether these were the same vaccines sent on Feb. 13 to the island’s Turkish Cypriot north, Panayiotou said the European Commission indicated it could make 500,000 doses available to Cyprus. She did not specify whether they are from the same batch but said it is clear the commission currently has vaccines it can allocate.

The minister described the cooperation with Brussels as “close” from the start of the crisis, noting ongoing communication between the European Commission and Cyprus’ veterinary services. Monday’s meeting, she said, was meant to secure immediate delivery, and she left feeling satisfied that Cyprus’ request had been accepted.

Beyond the immediate crisis, Panayiotou also discussed broader concerns with Agriculture Commissioner Hansen. She said many EU countries are grappling with animal diseases and other agricultural threats, and the issue will be placed on the agenda of the next Agriculture and Fisheries Council.

An upcoming informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers will focus on crisis management tools, a topic that now feels less theoretical and more urgent. As the minister put it, countries across the bloc are increasingly dealing with crises caused not only by disease outbreaks but also by extreme weather and other natural phenomena.

For Cyprus, though, the priority this week is simple: get the vaccines on the ground, protect livestock, and stabilize a sector that is already feeling the strain.

This remains a developing story.