István Nagy: in recent years we have consciously helped animal keepers in preventing epidemics and animal diseases

Food of animal origin placed on the market in Hungary is completely safe and will remain so thanks to strict epidemic control measures, the Minister of Agriculture said in a video uploaded to his Facebook page on Sunday.

István Nagy stated that avian influenza, African swine fever, peste des petits ruminants and now the foot-and-mouth disease virus are causing very serious dangers and economic damage to farm animals.

He also indicated that in recent years, livestock keepers have been consciously helped in the prevention of epidemics and animal diseases.

Among the measures taken so far, he mentioned that 12 billion forints are spent annually to support the costs of sampling, laboratory diagnostic tests, medical treatment or immunization in the case of cattle, pigs, poultry or small ruminants.

He highlighted that 2,336 livestock farms were built or renovated in the rural development program, and the calls for tenders also included technological developments in animal hygiene.

He added that the technological solutions extend to reducing the risk of infectious diseases being introduced and spreading within farms.

István Nagy pointed out that in the case of African swine fever, it is clear what results organized, concerted action can achieve, “since we have managed to protect the domestic pig population from the disease to this day.”

“We can demonstrate all this by the fact that over the past three years, despite our country’s protests, the EU support rate for animal health measures has decreased by more than 50 percent,” the minister said.

He also mentioned that special attention was paid to supporting disease control investments in the tenders for the development of animal farms announced last year. Thanks to this, around 1,400 investments can be implemented.

“Let’s not forget that within the framework of disease control measures, the costs of killing animals, disposing of animal carcasses, necessary equipment, destruction of infected materials and disinfection are covered by the Hungarian budget,” István Nagy said in a video uploaded to the social media site.