The cat virus epidemic in Cyprus killed – according to conservative estimates – 8,000 domestic cats. Other data indicate that up to 300,000 animals were killed by the disease. Cyprus became the center of this “cat plague”, and not without reason – Aphrodite Island is often called the “Island of Cats”. The density of cats here is exceptionally high. One and a half million of them live in the northern part of Cyprus alone.
By the way, Cyprus is considered the place where cats were domesticated. Until recently it was believed that this happened in Egypt 3-4 thousand years BC, and those who worshiped cats Egypt was the cradle of domestication of one of the oldest animals associated with humans. However, we now know that this happened at least 2,000 years ago, and the cat became associated with humans when they began gathering supplies that attracted rodents. This did not necessarily happen in Egypt, but rather throughout the Middle East and the Fertile Crescent, and perhaps the oldest domestic cats come from the Mediterranean.
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