ATEHNS
\nA senior veterinary official in Greece was replaced after it emerged that sheep had been \u201cburied alive\u201d in a disease control move, a regional governor said Thursday.
\n\u201cWe received a complaint concerning live animals in the burial process,\u201d Dimitris Kouretas, governor of the central region of Thessaly, told reporters.
\n\u201cThis merits further investigation. For this reason I replaced the veterinary supervisor\u201d responsible for the area of the incident, Kouretas said.
\nOfficials since early July has been trying to contain an outbreak of sheep and goat plague near the central city of Trikala.
\nThe disease known as Peste des Petits Ruminants, or PPR, is highly contagious to sheep and goats but does not affect humans. Meat and pasteurised milk are also safe to consume, officials said.
\nThe Greek agriculture ministry has said it is the first time the disease has been detected in the country.
\nOver 2,400 sheep have been culled since the first case was detected on July 11 near the town of Kalabaka, according to the agriculture ministry.
\nFarmers and officials have said the disease was likely brought into the country by imported livestock.
\n\u201cNon-stop checks are underway\u201d by scores of vets, Agriculture Minister Kostas Tsiaras told Skai radio, adding that some had interrupted their summer holidays.
\nTsiaras noted that Greek farmers had increased animal imports after local flocks were decimated in last year\u2019s disastrous floods caused by Storm Daniel.
\nTens of thousands of sheep perished at the time.
\nNon-EU imports \u201care mainly from Romania, Turkiye and Albania,\u201d the minister said, adding that the animals\u2019 origin would be investigated.
\nThe governor\u2019s office has temporarily shut down local abattoirs and farmers have been instructed to keep their flocks indoors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ATEHNS A senior veterinary official in Greece was replaced after it emerged that sheep had been \u201cburied alive\u201d in a disease control move, a regional governor said Thursday. \u201cWe received a complaint concerning live animals in the burial process,\u201d Dimitris Kouretas, governor of the central region of Thessaly, told reporters. \u201cThis merits further investigation. For […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-420727","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n