Austria Closes Borders with Hungary amid Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Closure at the Austrian-Hungarian border in Rajka (northwestern Hungary)

Due to the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), border traffic has been suspended at some crossing points between Hungary and Austria since Saturday, and longer waiting times can be expected at the operational border crossing points, the communications service of the National Police Headquarters said.

The Austrian counterparts have informed the police that Austria would introduce restrictions on border traffic from midnight on April 5. On police.hu you can find out which border crossings are open and which are closed. Kristóf Gál, spokesman for the National Police Headquarters, said that

due to the closed small borders and the disinfection works introduced by the Austrian authorities, there could be temporary congestion at the open border crossings.

Authorities disinfecting the vehicles leaving Hungary at the Hegyeshalom border crossing. Photo: MTI/Krizsán Csaba

The control of foot-and-mouth disease in Győr-Moson-Sopron county (northwestern Hungary) is in full swing, Agriculture Minister István Nagy told a press conference on Sunday. He emphasized that there were no new outbreaks, with four farms affected by the virus in Hungary. Two farms have already been decontaminated, and the other two are in the process of being decontaminated.

The infected farms have been placed under quarantine and are being kept under the strictest possible control, he stressed. “We are doing our utmost to prevent the virus from escaping,” he said, adding that disinfection points have been reinforced, security at the colonies has been tightened and epidemiological rules are being monitored because no human agent can be allowed to become the virus’ vector.

István Nagy stressed that the government was helping farmers to ease the burden of production losses and to safeguard the jobs of those working on livestock farms. He stressed that it was bad news that the wind was blowing because it could also spread the disease, but “it is extremely important that we do everything we can to stop and rid the area of the virus”. The Minister recalled that

since Saturday the Hungarian Defense Forces have also been involved in the disinfection work.

Mr Nagy reminded that a ten-kilometer exclusion zone had been set up around the infected colonies, within which hunting was banned. However, professional hunters have been asked to shoot game for diagnostic purposes in order to take blood samples. Of the 176 animals shot, not one was found to have foot-and-mouth disease virus. Such diagnostic culls are being carried out in all areas of the country to test how well immunity is being maintained.

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The Veterinary Operational Staff met over the weekend, and after the meeting István Nagy said that there was another outbreak in Slovakia, so all the rules for control should be respected. Infostart reported that

Slovak Agriculture Minister Richard Takáč said on Saturday that the latest outbreak, the sixth in a row, was in the village of Jurová in the Dunajská Streda District. The politician also stated that the authorities have information that illegal animal transports are taking place at night.

István Nagy said that it had been decided that all the Hungarian farms affected by the virus would have police checks on the movement of people in and out and that each farm would have a designated veterinarian. He added that a moratorium on loans would be put in place, under which all affected livestock farmers would have their loan repayments of principal and interest suspended for one year.

The Minister recalled that

the disease had appeared on a buffalo farm in Germany on January 10 and on a cattle farm in Kisbajcs in Hungary on March 6. The virus was later identified in Slovakia and then reappeared in Hungary.

Speaking on a Kossuth Radio program on Sunday, the Agriculture Minister said it was important for livestock farmers to cooperate with the authorities, because if the disease was “covered up”, it would explode and the damage would be enormous.

Asked how the situation was affecting the sales position of Hungarian livestock farming in view of the lambs for Easter, István Nagy said the sheep sector had been hit by the plague of small ruminants and was now also threatened by the foot-and-mouth disease virus, but the former had been overcome and Hungary was now free. As a result, lamb exports could start, except for the three districts of Győr-Moson-Sopron and Komárom-Esztergom counties affected by FMD. “It is very important that Austria allows these trucks to pass through to Slovenia and Italy,” he emphasized.

The Minister drew attention to the principle of regionalization, i.e. that due to FMD, the three districts of Győr-Moson-Sopron and Komárom-Esztergom are safety zones, from where exports can only be transported for domestic slaughter, but “exports from the rest of the country must go”, which is in Hungary’s fundamental interest.

István Nagy said that the next biggest task, apart from the relief of cattle farms, was to ensure the functioning of the pig sector, as “10,000 fatteners are produced in the region every week”, and “there have been no deliveries for 3.5-4 weeks, so almost 40,000 animals have been accumulated there”.

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Via MTI, Infostart, Featured photo via MTI/Krizsán Csaba