Central Europe grapples with the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak

Authorities in several countries of Central Europe are working to contain an outbreak of footandmouth disease among cattle populations that has caused widespread border closures and required the killing of thousands of animalsThe outbreak was first detected on a cattle farm in northwestern Hungary in early March and animals on three farms in neighbouring Slovakia tested positive for the highly transmissible virus two weeks laterSince then animals from an additional three farms in Hungary and another three in Slovakia have tested positive for the virus the first outbreak of the disease in either country in more than half a centuryEverything is completely upside down in the area as farmers fear for their own herds and transportation is disrupted by border closures said Saacutendor Szoboszlai a local entrepreneur and hunter in the Hungarian town of Leveacutel where nearly 3000 cattle had to be culled after the disease was discovered on a farmWe didnt even think such a thing could happen Who could count on that Nobody he saidThere are big farms in the area but I dont think it was the fault of the animal owners thats for sure The wind blew it here he addedFootandmouth disease primarily affects clovenhooved animals like cattle sheep goats pigs and deer and results in fevers and blisters in the mouth and hooves The virus spreads through contact between animals or on surfaces like clothing skin and vehicles or on the wind It poses little danger to humansOn Friday authorities in Hungary continued to conduct operations aimed at stopping the spread of the disease and disinfecting affected farms and vehicles in the area Mats doused in a powerful disinfectant were placed at the entrances and exits of towns and villages across the region to eliminate virus molecules that may cling to tires though many of those mats quickly went dry and were swept partially off the road by passing vehiclesThis week the Slovakian government citing insufficient containment measures by Hungary closed 16 of their common borders and one with Austria all of them lessertrafficked crossings so authorities can focus on conducting border checks at the major onesLast week Austria where there have been no reported cases closed 23 of its border crossings with Hungary and SlovakiaAuthorities in the Czech Republic relatively distant from the Hungarian and Slovakian farms where the disease has been detected have introduced disinfection measures at all five border crossings used by freight trucks entering the countryJiri Cerny associate professor at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague said the most significant risk of transmission is through contaminated human objects such as tires and cars on the soles of shoes and through contaminated foodThe Czech Agriculture Minister Marek Vyacutebornyacute has said the restrictions could be lifted 30 days after the last farm animal infected with footandmouth disease has been culled in SlovakiaNo new infections have been discovered in Hungary this week and the cleanup of the last infected farms will likely be completed on Saturday Istvaacuten Nagy Hungarys agricultural minister said on FridayEarlier this week a Hungarian official said in a news conference that the footandmouth disease outbreak may have been caused by an artificially produced virusWithout citing specific evidence to back his claims Gergely Gulyaacutes chief of staff to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbaacuten said it couldnt be ruled out that the disease had been released in Hungary as a biological attack adding that the suspicion was based on verbal statements from a laboratory in a foreign country that had begun initial analysis of viral samplesHungarys government has promised to institute a loan payment moratorium for affected farmers and to help compensate them for the loss of their animals and assist in developing measures on farms to prevent future outbreaksSzoboszlai the hunter in Leveacutel choked up when speaking about the local farmer who had to cull his entire herd when the virus appeared saying the situation was terribleI feel so sorry for him because this is his lifes work he said adding that It will be very difficult to start overThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params