Hungary slaughters nearly 10,000 pigs due to proximity to FMD disease outbreak in cattle
Nearly 10,000 pigs on a Hungarian farm near a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak have been slaughtered as a precaution in an attempt to contain the disease's spread in Central Europe.
The original outbreak was detected on April 17 at a dairy farm in Rábapordány with 875 cattle. At a meeting of the European Union's Animal Health and Welfare Committee, Hungarian health authorities reported that the neighboring pig farm, with 9,888 cattle, had been completely emptied.
Foot and mouth disease spreads in Central Europe
With this new case, the total number of animals killed or euthanized due to foot-and-mouth disease in Central Europe rises to 26,704. Most of the outbreaks (12 in total) have been concentrated on cattle farms along the Slovak-Hungarian border. Slovakia is reported to have euthanized 7,490 cattle, and Hungary 8,466.
The World Organization for Animal Health (WHO) reported that preventive measures have also been taken on other farms. In Hungary, two additional farms were emptied due to contact, affecting an additional 846 animals.
Hungary has tested more than 1,500 farms and 1,000 wild animals. In Slovakia, 924 farms and more than 400 wild species have been monitored. Austria, so far free of outbreaks, has also activated an intensive surveillance plan on its eastern border.
Despite the severity of the outbreak, European authorities indicated that there is no connection between the cases reported in Germany at the beginning of the year and the current outbreaks in Hungary and Slovakia.
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