FMD concerns for farmers in Croatia

In the context of the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in several European countries, the Croatian Minister of Agriculture, David Vlajčić, has asserted that the country is implementing comprehensive measures to avert an epidemic. However, concerns have been voiced by farmers, who express apprehension that the disease may still infiltrate their livestock. Despite the prohibition on the importation of calves and cattle from neighbouring countries where cases of FMD have been documented, livestock farmers express apprehension that the incursion of the disease into Croatian herds could result in the culling of a substantial number of cattle, precipitating significant economic losses. Slovakia declared a state of emergency following the detection of three cases in livestock facilities, while a new outbreak of the disease was identified in Hungary, about 15 kilometers from the Slovakian border. Consequently, six localities have been affected by the FMD, and border controls and closures have been imposed between Slovakia and Hungary, as well as the neighboring countries the Czech Republic and Austria, to contain the spread of the disease in Europe.