Did Sikh or Indian guest workers bring a deadly virus into Hungary? Here are the first conclusions of an ongoing investigation
We wrote before that György Raskó, a Hungarian agricultural economist, said there is an exceptional correlation between the nationality of the workers at dairy farms and the outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Hungary. Here are the first findings of the ongoing investigation.
Expert points to Sikh, Indian guest workers
The foot-and-mouth disease caused serious damage to the Hungarian agriculture. Raskó said in an interview that authorities slaughtered at least 10,000 cattle, mostly Holstein Friesian dairy cattle. One costs around HUF 900,000 on the market, so the damage is at least HUF 10 billion (EUR 25 million). However, the damage is greater since they will never produce milk for the farmers. The daily milk production of such cattle is 30-40 litres. One litre of raw milk is HUF 200, so the altogether loss will be about HUF 22-25 billion (EUR 50-62 million).
Zsombor Wagenhoffer, the head of the Hungarian Animal Breeders’ Association, told Economx that he could not exclude the option that somebody deliberately brought the virus into Hungary, which is what even the government suggested.
Mr Raskó pointed out the guest workers in that regard, saying that the correlation between the nationality of the employees and the FMD outbreaks is exceptional. He said that in most dairy farms in Hungary, Sikhs work and the FMD virus is constantly present in their home country. Foreign employees working on the dairy farms change approximately every six months, with other relatives coming to work. They also work here for six months, then go back. Since there were no health assessments before the outbreak of the disease, it may happen that, by accident, those guest workers brought the deadly virus into Hungary.
Here are the first results of the investigation
According to a probe conducted by the National Food Chain Safety Office (Nébih), Hungarian authorities are still unable to rule out that the FMD virus was of artificial origin. The investigation continues, they added. So far, results have not revealed clear connections between the dairy farms.
Based on the Nébih, a Hungarian lab identified the virus as an O-type variant, which is not the same German authorities identified. However, the comprehensive investigation conducted by the European Union’s reference lab is still ongoing.
Nébih clarified that so far, no evidence indicates that guest workers could have been the source of the deadly virus that appeared in Kisbajcs.
Ministry drafts decree on interest-free credit for farmers hit by FMD
The National Economy Ministry has published a draft decree that would offer a 100%-interest subsidy for Széchenyi Card credit to farmers directly impacted by earlier outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease. The ministry said the subsidised credit would be available to livestock farmers in counties where outbreaks occurred and to those directly impacted by a ban on exports.
The government has rolled out a number of measures to mitigate the impact of the FMD outbreaks on local farmers, the Hungarian News Agency wrote.
Before, agriculture minister István Nagy said Hungary could be declared free of foot-and-mouth disease on May 30 since there were no further confirmed outbreaks after 17 April.
FM Szijjártó holds talks with French minister of agriculture
The government will protect Hungarian farmers and will oppose Ukraine’s accelerated EU accession and will oppose the extension of the European Union’s exemption for Ukrainian farm products from quotas and duties when they expire on June 5, Minister of Foreign Affars and Trade Peter Szijjarto said after his talks with France’s Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Annie Genevard in Budapest on Friday.
“We also agreed that it would pose a huge risk to European agriculture if the European Union approved the free trade agreement with Latin American countries in its current form. We need guarantees that European agriculture will not be disadvantaged in any way by any international agreement,” Peter Szijjarto said in a statement issued by his ministry.
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