Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has been confirmed in cattle in Slovakia, close to the Kisbajcs region of Hungary where the virus was detected in early March.
Slovakian Agriculture Minister Richard Takáč announced today that FMD had been detected on three farms in southern Slovakia, with around 2,000 animals expected to be culled, according to a report by Dennik N.
Two of the infected farms are in the Dunaszerdahely district, one with 650 milking cows and the other with 670 animals. The third infected farm is in the Komárno region, but the number of animals on the farm has not yet been confirmed, according to the NFU’s BAB office in Brussels.
The Dunaszerdahely region is reported to be particularly important for Slovakian livestock production, with 13,000 cattle and 128,000 pigs.
Dennik N reports that one of the infected farms is only a few kilometres away from a strategically important large-scale pig breeding farm, where many other farms are located. All Slovak zoos will be closed, and ‘disinfectant fords’ will be placed on the roads around the affected farms.
The disease was suspected on Thursday and definitively confirmed by tests on Friday, Mr Takáč announced.
Two of the affected farms in belong to the Our Farms group of the Tkáčov family from the J&T investment group, while the third affected farm is run by the Agricultural Cooperative, Dennik N’s report added.
All other cows, pigs, sheep and goats within a 3km radius from the affected farms will also be culled, and animals will also vaccinated immediately, as culling will take some time, it is reported.
Susceptible animals and products from Slovakia have already been banned by the UK. Defra announced an import ban on susceptible products from both Hungary and Slovakia on March 7, following confirmation of FMD in a herd of cattle in Hungary.