The Turkish Cypriots are to send a total of 20,000 doses of the foot and mouth disease vaccine to Larnaca, the north’s ‘agriculture minister’ Hüseyin Cavus said on Tuesday as the island’s southeast battles an ongoing outbreak of the disease.

He told the north’s public broadcaster BRT that the first 10,000 doses would be sent on Tuesday, with the remainder to be sent “in line with demand”.

During the same television appearance, he said that he had been warning the Republic of Cyprus’ authorities about the disease since December, when an outbreak was detected in the village of Ayios Sergios, between Famagusta and Trikomo, and that he had at the time “shared serious concerns” that the disease may have already spread to the Republic.

“The response we received for a long time was ‘there are no cases in our country’,” he said.

Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman also briefly referenced the sending of vaccines during a press conference he held his meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides.

“It cannot be that there is one thing in the north and another in the south. There is a risk of the disease spreading on both sides. Therefore, it is necessary that we act in coordination,” he said, adding that the matter would be handled by the relevant bicommunal technical committees.