Slovakia Declares State of Emergency Due to Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreaks

Slovakia is facing its fourth outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, leading to the declaration of a state of emergency in the country. Cases of the disease have been recorded on three farms in the southern part of Slovakia, as well as on a farm with 279 heads of cattle in the Dunajská Streda area.

This is reported by AgroReview

This area, which borders Hungary, is already under restrictions imposed after previous outbreaks. The detection of the new outbreak has prompted authorities to expand the 3-kilometer protection zone and the 10-kilometer surveillance zone to prevent further spread of the virus.

Slovak experts note that the location of the new outbreak correlates with the direction of the Danube River, which may indicate the possibility of the virus spreading through the air over significant distances. This hypothesis is currently considered the most likely cause of the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.