Confirmation of FMD in Hungary

Hungarian Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr. Szabolcs Pásztor, has confirmed a case of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in a herd of dairy cows. Hungary has lost its FMD free status as the case was reported in the Gyor area, near the border with Slovakia.

FMD is a highly contagious viral disease in cloven-hoofed animals, such as sheep, cattle, and pigs. It has the capacity to cause significant economic losses, due to production losses in the affected animals & the loss of access to foreign markets for animals, meat, and milk for affected countries. FMD does not infect humans or create a risk to food safety. 

Defra is currently in contact with Hungarian counterparts and is working closely with the Devolved Governments to prevent an incursion from imported goods.

Following the outbreak confirmed last Friday (March 7th), Great Britain has suspended the import of the following commodities to Britain from Hungary:

• live (including non-domestic) ungulates (ruminants and porcine animals, including wild game) and their germplasm
• fresh meat from ungulates
• meat products from ungulates that have not been subject to specific treatment D1, D, C or B (including wild game)
• milk, colostrum and their products, unless subjected to treatment as defined in Article 4 of Regulation 2010/605
• animal by-products, unless treated to effectively mitigate the risk of FMD.

Surveillance and serology is ongoing to identify the strain and whether there are other cases affected. Great Britain is still on high alert and all farmers should implement good bio-security and report any unusual symptoms to their vets.

Find out more here.