Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 3, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleAustria closes borders with Hungary and Slovakia to prevent foot-and-mouth disease spread. Hungary and Slovakia take measures to contain the outbreak.
VIENNA (Reuters) -Austria will close two smaller crossings at its border with Slovakia and 21 at its border with Hungary from Saturday, in a bid to prevent foot-and-mouth disease from entering the country, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.
The first outbreak of the highly infectious disease in 50 years in Hungary led the country on Wednesday to deploy soldiers and launch disinfection measures to contain it in an area bordering Slovakia and Austria.
The disease, which poses no danger to humans, mostly affects cattle and other cloven-hoofed animals like swine, sheep and goats, causing fever and mouth blisters. Outbreaks often lead to trade restrictions and culls of some livestock.
Slovakia declared an emergency situation on Tuesday after the disease was found on three farms.
To strengthen efforts aimed at preventing the disease from reaching Austria, the country will focus its police resources at those borders on its main crossings, the ministry said in a statement.
"So as not to undermine these police checks, we ask you to understand that we cannot provide further details, particularly the times, staffing levels, form of checks etc at the various locations," the ministry said.
(Reporting by Francois MurphyEditing by Bernadette Baum)
The article discusses Austria's decision to close border crossings with Hungary and Slovakia to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.
Hungary has deployed soldiers and launched disinfection measures to contain the disease near its border with Slovakia and Austria.
Slovakia declared an emergency after the disease was found on three farms, prompting Austria to take preventive actions.
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