Foot-and-mouth disease confirmed in Hungary
7th March 2025
UK livestock producers are expected to be “hugely concerned” following confirmation of the foot-and-mouth disease in another European country.
The foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) was identified on a cattle farm in Hungary.
Hungary’s National Food Chain Safety Authority (Nébih) announced today that a farm with 1,400 cattle in Kisbajcs showed classic symptoms of foot-and-mouth disease at the beginning of March.
The presence of the pathogen was subsequently confirmed by the Nébih laboratory, NPA reported.
Dr Szabolcs Pásztor, the national chief veterinarian, immediately ordered the closure of the farm and initiated an investigation to ascertain how the virus reached the farm.
‘Extremely strict’ official measures are being implemented, including a ban on the transport of susceptible live animal species and their products.
NPA said that while Hungary is not a major source of pigmeat imports, relative to some EU countries, including Germany, Defra is likely to impose a ban on imports of animals and products of animal origin (POAO) from Hungary, as it did in response to Germany’s case.
READ MORE: Foot-and-mouth disease outbreak: UK bans livestock imports from Germany
Potential to destroy herds and businesses
NFU Scotland vice president Robert Neill said that all Scottish livestock producers, whether they keep cattle, sheep or pigs, will be “hugely concerned” that there has been another confirmed case of foot and mouth (FMD) in mainland Europe and will look to the government to double down on the nation’s border control measures.
He added: “Confirmation of a case on a large livestock farm in Hungary, the nation’s first confirmed case in fifty years, follows on from a case in Germany at the start of the year.
“This is a highly contagious disease that has the potential to destroy herds and businesses, and at the very worst, wipe out the livestock sector completely.”
Mr Neill also reminded that there is no danger to humans or food safety, nor is this disease present anywhere in the UK, but its presence in Europe will send a chill through the livestock industry.
“We have not seen foot-and-mouth disease in Scotland since 2001, but those who lived through that period of time cannot forget the devastation and toll it took on farming communities. We do not wish to see that ever occurring again.
“While farmers live with the constant threat of disease returning to these shores, lessons learnt from the past have helped shape the robust livestock traceability systems that we use as part of our daily business. “We are confident as a sector that surveillance systems are effective. These systems were tested in full last week with the false FMD alert at Exeter Market.
“We understand that chief veterinary officers from across the UK are in discussions on protocols, including tracings from any recent movements from Hungary, and a ban on importing cattle, pork, sheep and products of animal origin from Hungary must follow,” he continued.
Mr Neill added that NFU Scotland has long called for tighter border security on all food imports.
He concluded: “We need these to be robust and enforced without fail. Illegal meat imports continue to flood into this country at an alarming rate.
“We are asking our members to maintain strict on-farm biosecurity measures, comply with the swill feeding ban, report all suspicions of notifiable diseases promptly and ensure they get proper diagnosis of any livestock presenting symptoms.
“Being vigilant and quickly recognising clinical signs of the disease in livestock is vital to controlling and preventing it from spreading if, in the worst-case scenario, the disease was ever to breach our borders again.
“But fovernment must also play its part by building robust, reliable border controls that the nation’s farmers can trust to keep us disease-free.”
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