The Scientific Committee for the treatment of smallpox in goats and sheep is in the phase of intensive study of the data received from the Ministry of Rural Development, as the Rector of the University of Thessaly, Professor of Virology – Infectious Diseases of the Department of Veterinary Medicine and President of the National Scientific Committee for the Management and Control of Animal Smallpox told the Athenian-Macedonian News Agency. Charalambos Billinis.

“We have received all or almost all of the data from the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food, we are studying it and trying to identify where the problem occurs, in which areas and under which risk factors. Our goal is to see why the disease is reappearing in certain areas and to come up with the first countermeasures. We are very close to making the first announcements, after further specifying the data,” he said.

The Scientific Committee, as he noted, is expected to announce the first specialized measures to limit the spread of the disease, seeking to protect both livestock and the commercial reputation of Greek PDO products.

So far, according to YPAAT data, the number of dead animals exceeds 357,000, while the areas with the biggest problem are located in Achaia, Thessaly, Serres and to a lesser extent in Evros.

Mr. Billinis underlined that all efforts are being made to avoid “lockdown at all costs, however the measures will depend on the analysis of the data”.

The main goal, as he clarified, is not to characterize the country as endemic, as this would have serious implications both in the management of the disease and in the trade of Greek products. “Greece will be classified as endemic only if the disease spreads throughout the country or if we proceed with vaccination,” he explained.

The vaccine issue

The head of the Commission clarified that there is no approved vaccine for sheep and goat pox in the European Union. “Europe and the EOF have officially responded that there is currently no approved vaccine available. There are only some doses – about 300,000 – of a Jordanian vaccine held in reserve, while another 1.7 million doses are in production. However, the EU reserves these stocks for emergencies and as a last resort when a country can no longer control the disease with consolidation”, he noted.

At the same time, he told APE-MPE that vaccination may have serious commercial consequences: “According to the European regulation, where vaccination is applied, restrictive measures are automatically imposed on the movement of products. In addition, because there is no possibility of distinguishing between vaccinated and naturally infected animals, all vaccinated are considered infected”. Which will result in the forced slaughter of all animals.

He cautioned that the effectiveness of the vaccine has not been confirmed on a large scale and “there is no data on how the animals react and how much immunity is provided. The literature reports an effectiveness of 60-65%, which means that 30-35% of those vaccinated could get sick”.

Referring to the confusion with the nodular dermatitis vaccine, he emphasized that “these are different diseases, although they belong to the same genus of viruses. The nodular dermatitis vaccine allows the distinction between vaccinated and infected animals, which is not the case for smallpox.”

Finally, regarding Turkey, he stated that “it has been applying vaccination for ten years, without having been freed from smallpox”, adding that in the event that a Member State proceeds with vaccination, its products will automatically be subject to traffic restrictions. Something which, as Mr. Billinis mentioned, was also emphasized by the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Christoph Hansen, during his visit to Bulgaria in the past few days.