István Nagy: Animal keepers have a huge responsibility in curbing the foot-and-mouth disease virus

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According to experience, since the appearance of the virus in March, it has been proven that in addition to strict compliance with the rules, official control is also necessary, and the need for possible further stricter measures must be examined. Hungary has not had such a serious disease among even-toed ungulates for 50 years, so there was no sense of fear or appropriate precautions among farmers either – he explained. István Nagy emphasized: the disease is very contagious and can cause extraordinary economic damage, according to preliminary estimates, the damage is tens of billions of forints. There is no new outbreak, strict regulations and measures are still in place to prevent the spread of the virus – said the Minister of Agriculture.

According to the Minister, it is difficult to make the public understand that unhealthy animals are being liquidated on farms affected by the infection, because asymptomatic animals also carry the virus on large-scale farms

In the 1970s, many rural houses had cows, they were able to isolate them there, and there were animals that survived the disease. In large-scale farm conditions, neither quarantine nor treatment can be solved, and asymptomatic animals must also be killed to prevent further spread – he indicated. István Nagy drew attention to the fact that the disease cannot be prevented by vaccination, because that would introduce the virus into the animal, and then it can no longer be exported. The current situation in Europe and the world is that the exemption must be maintained for avian influenza, African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease, he pointed out. The minister believes it is time to make a decision at the international level whether this exemption can be abandoned.

The minister stressed that the foot-and-mouth disease virus is not dangerous to humans

István Nagy highlighted that a tender is being announced for the development of animal health and epidemiological infrastructure for cattle, sheep and goat farms. The aim of the Ministry of Agriculture is to ensure that all valid applicants receive money, so if necessary, it will be reallocated from other sources. The announcement will be published in May, and they would like to evaluate the submitted tenders as quickly as possible, in July, he explained. Speaking about the difficulties arising in connection with Hungarian exports, the minister also mentioned that although according to European Union regulations, products cannot be shipped from a specific area affected by the infection, they still experience that foreign partners are reluctant to buy pigs from the whole of Hungary. Hungary is introducing reciprocity measures against those member states that do not want to accept Hungarian products in accordance with the law, and is conducting international negotiations in order to lift export restrictions, he said. The Minister of Agriculture asks buyers to pay special attention to domestic products and look for Hungarian pork. In response to a question, István Nagy said that they are continuing to investigate how the virus came to Hungary, and based on the investigations so far, it can be completely ruled out that it was due to guest workers. It would significantly help the defense if they could find the reason for the outbreak, he added.

MTI