A foot-and-mouth outbreak in Slovakia has reached one of the country’s largest cattle farms.
The Slovakian government has already declared a state of emergency as it wrestles to contain the spread of the highly contagious disease, which can devastate cattle and pig farms.
The affected farm in Plavecký Štvrtok—30 kilometers north of the capital, Bratislava—is believed to house 3,000 cows, 150 heifers and 600 calves, and is also located near other livestock farms in Malacky, Stupava and Suchohrad.
Vaccinations are now underway as vets bid to stem the spread of the disease, with culling set to begin on Monday. Whether animals on neighboring farms will also need to be slaughtered has not been confirmed.
The outbreak at the farm is the fifth in Slovakia and comes shortly after infections were reported in Medveďov, Ňárad, Baka and Lúč na Ostrove close to the Hungarian border.
Slovak officials had initially blamed cross-border winds for transmitting the disease from Hungary. However, airborne transmission is unlikely in this latest case, given the distance and mountain range between the affected sites.
With Plavecký Štvrtok located just 50 kilometers from the Czech border, Czech officials are now scrambling to prevent the disease from spreading and have announced stricter border checks at the Břeclav-Brodské crossing.
In addition, decontamination mats have been installed at the Mikulov-Drasenhofen and Hatě-Kleinhaugsdorf crossings.
Although the disease has so far only been reported in cattle herds, it can also spread to pigs.
