300 sheep to be slaughtered in Cyprus over suspected foot-and-mouth

Up to 300 sheep are to be culled Sunday after preliminary tests from an EU-accredited lab indicated "strong suspicions" of foot-and-mouth infection in a herd on the eastern Mediterranean island, the agriculture minister said.

The state veterinary service would start culling "between 270 and 300 sheep" for immediate burial, Agriculture Minister Fotis Fotiou said after meeting government vets in the southern coastal town of Larnaca.