FMD outbreak in Hungary: update

Hungarian authorities have recorded four more outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD), including one in a farm that implemented strict preventive measures since the beginning of the epidemic. The case baffles experts, with Gyula Balka, associate professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Budapest, saying that the first clinical signs were detected in a milking cow. The farm also kept pigs, which complicated operations to curb the outbreak. Several animals were vaccinated to decrease virus shedding, while others were culled during the Easter weekend, including around 10,000 pigs. Veterinarians and police officers were helped in the task by inmates of a nearby prison who had experience in the meat industry. According to Balka, the only positive note is that the outbreak happened in one of the least pig-dense areas of the country because slaughterhouses are refusing to take pigs for fear of contamination. Therefore, authorities recommend the home slaughter of pigs with prior notification.
Since the start of the epidemic, imports of susceptible animals into the restricted areas or exports from them have been forbidden. Susceptible animals should also be kept indoors in the surveillance zone (10 Km from the infection site). Slaughter from the restricted areas is allowed at designated slaughterhouses. Fairs and exhibitions with animals are prohibited until the beginning of May, as well as visits to certain areas of national parks and hunting wild animals of listed species. Some border crossings with Slovakia have been closed, and others have been provided with disinfection mats. Balka expressed concern over the rise of conspiracy theories about the outbreaks, spread by people looking to gain popularity online, and urged authorities to fight the phenomenon and prevent it from happening.