“We’ve lost 300,000 cats since January”: A mutation in the feline coronavirus is wreaking havoc on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Animal rights activists like Dinos Ayiomamitis are calling on the government to take action to contain the outbreak.
“Baby” is a six-month-old kitten who has just arrived at a veterinary clinic in Nicosia, the capital. He suffers from feline infectious peritonitis (FIP).
This virus “comes from a mutation of the intestinal coronavirus found in 90% of cats”, which is “very contagious” between them but does not transmit to humans, explains veterinarian Kostis Larkou while treating the visibly disoriented animal .
FIP has polymorphic symptoms: fever, abdominal swelling, weakness, and sometimes even aggression.
According to experts, the cat population, which consists mostly of stray cats, would exceed the population of the island, which is estimated at just over a million.
Cyprus and cats are old tales: the bones of one of these animals, discovered near human remains in a burial site over 9000 years old, are the oldest evidence of its domestication in the world.
Photo Christina ASSI / AFP
black market
Dinos Ayiomamitis, president of Cats PAWS Cyprus and vice president of Cyprus Voice for Animals (CVA), estimates that at least 300,000 cats have already died from the disease in six months.
For 25 years he has been feeding around 60 cats in a Nicosia cemetery. “The colony is doing well, but we’re worried because if only one is infected, the others will be too,” confesses this 70-year-old pensioner, near cats hopping on the marble of the tombs.
FIP affects several major cities in Cyprus, a European Union member country that has been divided since Turkey invaded the northern part in 1974.
Dinos Ayiomamitis Photo Christina ASSI / AFP
This animal disease would also affect neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Israel and Turkey, but in the absence of studies, “nothing allows us to confirm it,” says Demetris Epaminondas, vice-president of the Panchypriot Veterinary Association, which brings together professionals in the sector on the island.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture’s Veterinary Service, only 107 cases have been officially identified in the southern part of the Greek Cypriot island. A figure that does not correspond to reality, since several doctors testify that the disease is difficult to diagnose and that there is a lack of resources to do so.
Especially when cats are sick, they tend to isolate themselves and die alone. Several people feeding cats told AFP that they had disappeared and that very few bodies had been discovered.
To contain this outbreak, two options were considered: using a drug approved in India for human coronavirus, molnupiravir, and a veterinary antiviral drug approved in England called “GS-441524”.
In Cyprus, only GS is allowed to be imported, but this is subject to restrictions, not to mention the prohibitive price of the treatment, which can range from 3,000 to 7,000 euros per cat. Result: There is no stock of medicines on the island.
Some then have to resort to clandestine methods.
“We buy our medicines on the black market online or in Facebook groups. We keep our suppliers secret so we can continue to take care of our animals,” said one Cypriot woman on condition of anonymity for fear of getting into trouble.
Photo Christina ASSI / AFP
“The Island of the Dead Cats”
For weeks, Mr Epaminondas has been trying to get government approval for molnupiravir, a treatment that would cost around €200 per cat.
The Ministry of Agriculture, contacted by AFP, pledged to examine “possible means of solving the problem” using “various therapeutic preparations available on the European Union market”.
Vasiliki Mani, a 38-year-old Cypriot woman who is a member of several animal rights groups, is calling for a quick solution. In January she treated two stray cats from the PIF, which cost her 3600 euros.
“I’ve spent all my savings,” said the volunteer, saying animals in Cyprus were treated with “carelessness and cruelty”.
If the PIF continues to mutate, “Isle of Cats” will become “Isle of Dead Cats,” she warns.