Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) has appeared in Hungary

By: STA Date: 2025. 01. 28. 10:00

The laboratory of the National Food Chain Safety Authority (Nébih) has detected the presence of the PPR virus in Zala County. The animals were transported to Hungary from a collection station in Romania. The affected herd is being eliminated. Until further notice, no shipments of small ruminants from Romania may arrive in our country.

(Photo: Pixabay)

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a viral disease of sheep and goats, which is an acute, feverish general symptom, inflammation of the mucous membrane of the mouth and digestive tract, and is subject to notification requirements. It can also cause significant economic damage. The disease had not occurred in Hungary before this case.

The Nébih laboratory detected the virus in samples taken from a livestock farm in the Szentgyörgyvölgy settlement in Zala County

The animals were transported to Hungary from a collection station in Romania on January 15, 2025. The occurrence of the disease has not yet been reported in our eastern neighbor this year, but several outbreaks were registered in 2024. The affected herd is being eliminated, and the animal health authority has designated a 3 km radius protection zone and a 10 km radius surveillance (observation) zone around the farm, which also extends into the territory of Slovenia. Screening tests of sheep and goats have begun in the affected areas. Until further notice, no shipments of small ruminants – sheep and goats – may arrive in Hungary from Romania. Nébih asks sheep and goat farmers to do everything they can to prevent the virus from entering their herd.

Nébih