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Brussels – The Czech Republic is helping Slovakia in zones affected by foot-and-mouth disease and nodular dermatitis with a mobile unit for culling livestock. Czech Minister of Agriculture Marek Výborný stated this in Brussels on Monday during the EU Agriculture Council meeting, reports TASR correspondent. The Council of Ministers addressed this issue in a special item, at Hungary’s initiative.
Výborný noted that the situation regarding foot-and-mouth disease is serious. He confirmed that he discussed the development of this contagious animal disease in Brussels with SR Minister of Agriculture Richard Takáč (Smer-SD), with whom he has been in close contact since Friday (21.3.), when Slovakia identified three locations affected by the disease.
“On Sunday we discussed assistance from the Czech Republic over the phone. Based on these informal discussions, we provided a mobile abattoir from the Czech Republic’s state material reserves, which left for Slovakia on Saturday afternoon and has been involved in culling livestock since Sunday morning. Together with this unit, we have two veterinarians there who operate this facility,” described the Czech minister.
He reminded that when the Czech side will be withdrawing this facility home, a special decontamination station will be established at the border along with firefighters to ensure disinfection of persons and the facility itself, to prevent the risk of introducing the disease into Czechia through this route.
Výborný thanked his Slovak counterpart for explaining the situation, which requires culling over 2700 heads of cattle. “We all wish them success in managing the situation, to prevent further spread of the disease, because it is a great danger. Not for humans, but fatal for breeders. The transmission is very simple; the disease reached Slovakia across the Danube, likely over a short distance by wind,” explained the head of the Czech agricultural sector.
According to him, the Czech Republic has already implemented strict veterinary measures and random vehicle checks at the Czech-Slovak borders, and he urged all domestic cattle breeders to be vigilant and implement measures beyond those already established to minimize any risk of introducing this disease into Czechia. They must not allow anyone who has been in Hungary and Slovakia in the past 21 days, nor any machines, equipment, or milk trucks from foot-and-mouth disease affected zones, into their herds.
Výborný clarified that until the spread of this disease is stopped, Czechia does not allow any movement of animals from Slovakia to slaughterhouses and has also banned the import of Slovakian animal-origin food. (March 24)