Brussels – The Czech Republic is providing support to Slovakia in areas impacted by foot-and-mouth disease and nodular dermatitis through the deployment of a mobile unit for livestock culling. Czech Minister of Agriculture Marek Výborný announced this during the EU Agriculture Council meeting in Brussels on Monday, as reported by TASR correspondent. This matter was addressed as a special agenda item at the request of Hungary.
Výborný emphasized the seriousness of the foot-and-mouth disease situation. He confirmed that he has been in close communication with Slovakia’s Minister of Agriculture Richard Takáč (Smer-SD) since Friday (March 21), when Slovakia reported three affected locations.
“On Sunday, we discussed the assistance from the Czech Republic over the phone. Following those informal talks, we mobilized an abattoir from the Czech Republic’s state material reserves; it left for Slovakia on Saturday afternoon and began culling livestock on Sunday morning. Alongside this unit, we have two veterinarians operating the facility,” detailed the Czech minister.
He also mentioned that upon the return of the mobile unit to the Czech Republic, a special decontamination station will be established at the border, accompanied by firefighters, to ensure thorough disinfection of personnel and the facility to mitigate the risk of the disease spreading into Czechia.
Výborný expressed his gratitude to his Slovak counterpart for providing insights into the situation, which necessitates the culling of over 2,700 cattle. “We all hope for their success in controlling the outbreak and preventing further spread of the disease, which poses a significant threat—not to humans, but to farmers. The disease is easily transmissible and likely reached Slovakia across the Danube, possibly by wind over a short distance,” explained the head of the Czech agricultural sector.
He reported that the Czech Republic has already enacted stringent veterinary measures and is conducting random vehicle checks at the Czech-Slovak border. He urged all domestic cattle farmers to remain alert and adopt additional precautions beyond the existing measures to minimize the risk of the disease entering Czechia. Farmers should prohibit access to anyone who has been in Hungary or Slovakia in the past 21 days, along with any machinery, equipment, or milk trucks from areas affected by foot-and-mouth disease.
Výborný clarified that until the disease’s spread is contained, the Czech Republic will not permit the movement of animals from Slovakia to slaughterhouses and has also prohibited the import of animal-origin food products from Slovakia. (March 24)
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