The role of veterinarians is indispensable in domestic agriculture

By: STA Date: 2024. 02. 23. 10:30

Veterinarians play a fundamental role in protecting the health of animals, in combating infectious diseases and in examining the meat of animals intended for slaughter, Minister of Agriculture István Nagy said in his welcome address on Friday at the graduation and doctoral inauguration ceremony of the University of Veterinary Medicine.

(Photo: AM/Csaba Pelsőczy)

The head of the department added that the world is currently facing many difficulties, which the students were able to acquire all the knowledge to solve during their university studies. Thanks to their multifaceted duties, veterinarians play an indispensable role in domestic agriculture. As an example, he mentioned the work of official veterinarians, who supervise and check that food and feed industry entrepreneurs meet the requirements of food law at all stages of production, processing and distribution.

As he said, our country’s animal health professionals have to face bird flu and swine fever as well

István Nagy emphasized that the success of the activity so far is shown by the fact that the infection is still not present in domestic pigs in Hungary, but at the same time, the prevention of the disease is still a priority. Rabies is a constant risk in the northeastern border region, because due to the war, vaccinations in Ukraine were not carried out. It is also a task to keep the porcine PRRS virus and bovine tuberculosis under control, as well as to protect against one of the most significant global health threats of our time, resistant pathogens. Regarding the further challenges of the profession, István Nagy spoke about the period of the From Farm to Fork Strategy 2030, which defined a 50% reduction in antibiotics used in animal husbandry.