S&D MEP Sakis Arnaoutoglou has asked the European Commission to detail what steps it is taking to strengthen Greece's capacity to contain the spread of foot-and-mouth disease on the island of Lesvos, warning that the outbreak poses a risk to public and veterinary health across the EU. The question, submitted on 7 May 2026, follows a mission by the EU VET Initiative to Lesvos from 24 to 27 March 2026, whose findings were presented to the Commission's Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed.
Arnaoutoglou's three-part question targets operational gaps identified by the mission. He asks what specific measures the Commission has taken or intends to take to immediately boost Greece's human resources, surveillance, and diagnostic capacity in the affected area, and what the European services' assessment is of the necessary staffing level. He also inquires whether the Commission plans to activate transnational cooperation mechanisms, including requesting assistance from other member states' national reference laboratories, to speed up sample analysis and enhance disease tracing. Finally, he asks whether the Commission intends to propose specific protection measures for virus-free areas, such as enhanced surveillance, stricter biosecurity, or targeted preventive vaccination, given the importance of the local Lesvos sheep breed as a valuable genetic resource.
The question highlights the mission's finding that the origin and timing of the virus's introduction remain uncertain, and that the epidemiological status of sheep and goats poses a high risk of unnoticed spread with potential undetected outbreaks. The Commission is expected to reply within approximately six weeks; its answer will signal the EU's policy direction on veterinary emergency response and cross-border cooperation. The outcome directly affects Greek livestock farmers, EU veterinary authorities, the preservation of local genetic resources, and the broader EU animal health regime.
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