Hungary tightens livestock controls amid disease concerns
The Hungarian Minister of Agriculture, István Nagy, announced new measures to limit the spread of foot-and-mouth disease in the country. At the same time, he assured that the situation was under control and confirmed that foot-and-mouth disease remains under control, with no new outbreaks reported.
István Nagy, the Hungarian Minister of Agriculture, announced during a Saturday press conference the introduction of new measures to stop foot-and-mouth disease. He emphasised that control over the disease is effective and no new outbreaks have been detected. On Friday, the government in Budapest established a special task force to combat the disease.
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Among the introduced measures is a ban on the importation of animals into the Győr-Moson-Sopron county, where foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks were detected at the beginning of March. The export of animals is permitted only to designated slaughter locations. The police have been engaged in farm inspections, and all animal exhibitions have been banned, with the local zoo being closed.
Minister Nagy also announced a one-year moratorium on loan repayments for livestock breeders. Currently, in Hungary, there are about 3,500 cattle infected with foot-and-mouth disease. Hungarian authorities remain in constant contact with Slovak authorities, where disease outbreaks have also been detected.
Situation in the region
These are the first cases of foot-and-mouth disease in Hungary since 1973. On Friday, the Slovak Ministry of Agriculture confirmed the sixth outbreak of the disease in the country. In response to the threat, Austria has closed over 20 border crossings with Slovakia and Hungary.
Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious viral disease that affects both farm and wild animals. Although it poses no threat to humans, in the event of an outbreak, all animals on farms must be culled.
