Outbreak of Sheep Pox in Armenian Provinces: Papoyan Denies Farmers' Claims

Farmers from various regions of Armenia are raising alarms about an outbreak of sheep pox in the provinces. According to the farmers, the issue began last summer in the Shirak region and has now spread to other areas.

Farmer Vruir Aivazyan, speaking with MediaHub, noted that the sheep pox disease tends to spread from the Armenian-Turkish border every year. “This year, the sheep pox disease has spread from Shirak region. It is widespread in almost the entire Lori region, fully in Shirak, in Tavush, and other regions as well. This is unofficial information; we farmers are alerting each other. The situation in Armenia is very bad. The mayors are informed, the ministry is aware, and the administrative leaders are notified. The ministry should have already formed a commission to inspect each community and investigate how many losses there are,” he emphasized.

In response to questions about the reports of the outbreak from farmers, Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan stated, “We are simply implementing measures, and we are doing them very well. There is no such thing happening here. There are cases in neighboring countries, and we are currently vaccinating.”

According to the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the sheep pox disease is not transmissible to humans and is not considered a public health risk. It is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects ruminants such as both large and small livestock, pigs, and other wild animals.