00:00Greek stock farmer Georgos Tassiolis' sheep sheds are silent.
00:07His flock was culled just weeks ago after the virulent sheep pox virus ripped through the herd.
00:14Our unit was 900 animals. That made a turnover of 45,000 to 50,000 euros a month.
00:21There was a production of 300 to 350 tons of milk, and at the moment it is at zero,
00:27and our family is back to zero.
00:31It's a similar story across central Greece as the highly infectious virus destroys flocks.
00:37In Greece's agricultural heartland, Thessaly, more than 260,000 sheep and goats,
00:43roughly 2% of the national herd, have been culled in the last 12 months.
00:481,100 farms have shut down as a result.
00:52Stock breeder Vaeles Karahiolis worries his farm could be next.
00:57I am afraid every day that dawns, he says.
01:00What will happen in the unit if I will find a case?
01:03I can't sleep at night.
01:05Greek authorities are warning of a possible nationwide ban on the movement of animals.
01:10Authorities have launched a 10-day emergency plan sending veterinarians to farms
01:15and setting up disinfection zones.
01:17But many say the response has come too late, and these stamps should have been taken months ago.
01:22The outbreak is threatening to drive up food prices and affect the production of the country's famous feta cheese.
01:28Thessaly produces 15% of Greece's sheep and goat meat, and nearly a third of its milk and feta cheese.
01:3580-year-old cheesemaker Nikos Karakhanis has been making feta since 1970, but his machines now sit empty.
01:44The factory has let 10 employees go due to the lack of milk from the culling.
01:49We have been destroyed, he says.
01:52All of Thessaly has been destroyed.
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