Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has been confirmed in cattle in southern Slovakia, in a part of the country that home to large populations of pigs and cattle.
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. The outbreaks are close to the Kisbajcs region of Hungary where the virus was detected in early March.
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.
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.