Hungary confirmed on Thursday a fifth epidemic of foot and mouth diseases (DME) on a cattle farm in Rábapordány, near the Slovak border, intensifying the concerns concerning the spread of the very contagious farming virus detected for the first time in the country last month.
The last case, confirmed by laboratory tests Thursday afternoon, prompted the authorities to place the establishment – housing some 600 dairy cows – in the immediate forty, announced the Minister of Agriculture ISTVán Nagy on social networks. The veterinary teams began to reduce the entire herd in accordance with emergency containment protocols.
The virus was previously confirmed in four farms from the County of Győr -Moson -Sopron – Kisbajcs, Levèl, Darnózseli and Dunakiliti – where more than 4,000 animals were slaughtered. Neighboring Slovakia, which has also recorded six epidemics since March, said the state of emergency last month and continues to apply strict restrictions on borders and transport.
The authorities have now established a three -kilometer protection area and a 10 km surveillance area around the last Hungarian site. Contact tracing and additional tests are underway. Although the FMD does not threaten any threat to humans, it can devastate livestock, sheep and pig populations, with enormous economic consequences.
Government representatives consider the direct cost of the Hungarian epidemic, the first in 50 years, is already in millions of euros, with additional losses from interrupted exports and long -term disturbances of the industry that should stimulate this. In Slovakia, similar epidemics have already cost around 8 million euros.
Some Hungarian and Slovak officials have launched unfounded theories suggesting that the virus may have been deliberately introduced, although experts warn against speculation without proof. The United Kingdom has prohibited personal imports of EU meat and dairy products, invoking the need to protect its farmers and food security against additional spread.
The European Commission leads the sequencing of the genome to help retrace the origin of the virus.
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