In view of the critical animal health situation in Hungary and Slovakia, the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI) is urgently calling for laboratory testing to rule out foot-and-mouth disease in all clinically conspicuous cloven-hoofed animals in Germany.
Livestock owners, attending vets and official veterinarians must pay particular attention to cloven-hoofed animals for symptoms such as fever, salivation, lesions around the mouth and nose, on the teats and claws, and lameness. It is often not possible to rule out FMD with certainty on the basis of clinical signs alone! The only way to be sure is to follow up with a PCR test, which can be carried out in all provinces. For this purpose, lesion material (if available), mouth and nasal swabs and serum should be sent. If there is a clinical suspicion of bluetongue, an FMD exclusion test should also be carried out.
Since the beginning of March, two outbreaks of FMD in cattle have been reported in Hungary and five in Slovakia, involving several thousand animals. The route of infection is still unknown and investigations and control measures are ongoing.
At present, the disease is expected to spread further, with two outbreaks already close to the Austrian border, so restrictions and increased surveillance have already been ordered for smaller regions in Austria.
Germany is supporting both countries by providing vaccine. Some of the vaccine procured but not used following the outbreak in Brandenburg/Germany in January is now being used in Hungary and Slovakia.
The FMD virus can be transmitted over long distances, for example through contaminated food, so cases could occur at any time, even in regions far removed from the current outbreak. The FLI urges travellers not to bring raw dairy products or products containing undercooked meat from FMD-affected regions. In addition, all food waste must be disposed of properly so that animals do not have access to it.
The FMD viruses found in Hungary and Slovakia are of the same serotype, but are genetically distinct from the virus found in Brandenburg/Germany in January. In Brandenburg, the outbreak was confined to a single herd of 14 water buffalo and did not spread.
