Both Hungary and Slovakia have confirmed further outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the last week.

Hungary has four confirmed cases, while Slovakia has confirmed a fifth outbreak in the last week.

The most recent cases were confirmed on Tuesday 1 April in Hungary on two cattle farms in the region of Gyor-Moson-Sopron. This is the same region as the first two outbreaks detected in Hungary.

ADVERTISEMENT

The farm in Darnózseli has 1,000 cattle, while the farm in Dunakiliti has 2,500.

In Slovakia on Sunday, an outbreak was confirmed on a 3,000-cow dairy farm which is located just 50km from the Czech border and along the Austrian border.

There are also 150 heifers and 600 calves on the farm which is owned by a Danish company called FirstFarms. Cattle were being vaccinated from Sunday in an effort to slow the disease’s advance, and culling started on Monday.

The second case in Hungary was detected on a dairy farm last Tuesday 25 March, on the border with Slovakia. This outbreak was confirmed on a 3,000-cow dairy farm.

Slovakia case

The fourth case in Slovakia was detected on Wednesday 26 March. Authorities confirmed a positive result in samples taken from cattle breeding on the Malý Lúc farm in the Dunajská Streda district on Wednesday.

This outbreak involved 279 animals and is located in a restricted zone for FMD.

The first case of foot-and-mouth in these two countries was confirmed in Hungary in early March, while three farms in Slovakia went down with the disease two weeks later.

Grazing ban

In an attempt to curb the spread of the disease, a grazing ban has been imposed in an area of Hungary.

The ban was introduced last Tuesday, along 10km of the border with Slovakia, until 7 April. In an effort to contain the spread of foot-and-mouth disease in Slovakia, authorities have introduced new border measures.Police officers have begun enforcing disinfection protocols at former Slovak-Hungarian border crossings across the country.