Following news of the latest outbreak, Nébih urged livestock owners to take action to protect their herds. “We can only protect ourselves against the virus if livestock keepers follow the rules and precautions with extreme responsibility and do not take the protection of their own animals lightly. Where an infected animal is found, the entire livestock must be eliminated. Failure to follow the contact rules also puts other livestock farms at risk.”

Based on the epidemiological investigation thus far, authorities say the virus from the fifth farm cannot be traced back to previous outbreaks. Samples were taken at the dairy farm on March 11 and 23, and at the pig farm associated with it on April 4, 9 and 10, all of which yielded negative results.

Since March 7, Hungary has reported four other cases of FMD, impacting more than 7,000 head of cattle. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, said he could not rule out a “biological attack” as to how the virus entered the country after being FMD-free for more than 50 years.