New foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Hungary: thousands of cattle to be culled by tonight

A farm in Rábapordány in northwest Hungary infected by foot-and-mouth disease will be eliminated in a matter of hours, the minister of agriculture said on Saturday, adding that all farmers must cooperate in a disciplined manner to stop the virus.

István Nagy said the authorities had already slaughtered 875 cattle. While the pigs held in the farm were not infected, it was unavoidable that the pig stock should also be liquidated because of their proximity to the cattle, he added. The majority of this work will be completed by the evening, and the corpses buried by Sunday, he added.

Nagy said the pigs could turn into a “virus factory” if the infection spreads to them, so “we have no other possibility, no matter how painful it is, we must bury them as soon as possible so that we can save the other animals.”

He thanked all veterinary experts, police, disaster management staff, soldiers and government office employees for their work around the clock and added that the fight against the disease was not only the duty of the authorities. It was every animal farmer’s responsibility throughout the country to successfully stop the virus, he added. He said the virus would not stop if farmers were undisciplined and irresponsible. “Those that fail to pay attention today will have nothing left to save tomorrow,” he added.