The protection against foot-and-mouth disease is effective

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The Minister said that two of the four farms affected by the disease have been cleared, and disinfection work is currently underway. The clearing and eradication processes will begin on the other two farms on Tuesday, which he hopes will be completed by the weekend – he added. Speaking about prevention, István Nagy said that sixty thousand blood tests were performed on 749 farms, all of which were negative for foot-and-mouth disease. The Minister highlighted that a serious epidemiological investigation is underway in order to find out how the virus entered Hungary. He also spoke about the fact that the decision was made at the meeting of the operational staff to start drilling monitoring wells in Csemeztanya and to start building piped drinking water in the area in an accelerated procedure. The minister hopes that the investment can start and be completed quickly. The monitoring wells are needed so that “we can reassure everyone that no environmental damage, no environmental damage can befall the people living there or nature,” he said.

At the press conference, the minister appealed to the public to take into account the requests and instructions of the authority, because this is the only way to effectively protect themselves

He also warned against anyone spreading hoaxes or making a political issue out of the disease and its treatment, because, as he put it, this is a serious professional task. The decision was also made at the meeting of the operational staff to postpone the Gerecse tour, because the tour passes on the edge of endangered areas, which is a source of danger. István Nagy emphasized that it is in everyone’s interest that livestock farming on infected farms restarts as soon as possible after the clearance and thorough disinfection. To this end, the state will assume the wages of workers on the farms, for which the wage guarantee fund will be used, and a moratorium on loan repayments will be introduced for one year, which will affect both the capital and the interest. The clearance of farms is taking place with full state compensation so that no one has an interest in concealing the disease, he said. He reminded that backyard livestock keepers can also access disinfectants for free in the region.

István Nagy also emphasized that the most important duty of every livestock keeper now is to prevent the spread of the virus

To this end, personal movements must be minimized, disinfection rules must be followed, and it is strictly forbidden to move equipment from one farm to another. That is why the operational team decided that the farms in the affected areas should have their own veterinarians, he said. The minister warned against using mobile declawing and sheep shearing brigades in the current situation, because that could also be a potential source of infection. In response to a question, he said that the animals in the infected farms in Dunakilit and Darnózsel will continue to be buried at the ATEV farm in Bábolná, as before. Kristóf Gál, spokesperson for the National Police Headquarters, said that long waits in traffic had developed due to the small borders closed by Austria and the measures introduced at those that were open. There is continuous contact and coordination with the Austrian side in order to manage the situation, he added. The spokesperson asks those setting off on their journey to check the currently open and closed border crossings to Austria and Slovakia on police.hu, and the extent of possible congestion on Útinform. Kristóf Gál also said that on Monday, a local operational team was formed under the leadership of the Győr-Moson-Sopron County Police Headquarters with the participation of the heads of the bodies involved in animal health protection in order to coordinate and coordinate local tasks.

MTI