High Alert for Foot and Mouth Disease

Ireland on high alert for foot-and-mouth risk ahead of major EU exercise

Ireland has been placed on high alert following the confirmation of multiple foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks in Europe.

Slovakia confirmed three outbreaks of FMD in cattle, all within 20km of a recent outbreak in Hungary earlier this month. Slovakia is now the third EU country to report FMD in 2025, following Germany’s detection of the disease in January – the first case in the country since 1988.

Ireland has been free of FMD since 2001, and the Irish Department of Agriculture is taking action to ensure it remains that way. It confirmed this evening that no cattle, sheep or pigs have been imported into Ireland from Slovakia, Hungary or Germany since the start of the year.

Irish Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said: “The news of three outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Slovakia today is very concerning. I know this is a terrible blow to Slovak farmers and their agri-food industry. Given the highly contagious nature of the FMD virus I urge everyone in Ireland, particularly farmers, to continue to stay vigilant and to protect our Irish livestock.”

He also issued a warning to travellers returning from affected areas. Mr Heydon added: “Those travelling to Ireland from FMD affected countries should take every precaution not to bring the disease with them via contaminated meat, dairy and materials such as clothing, shoes and equipment. It is especially important that if you have visited farms, wildlife areas or zoos in FMD-affected countries, that you avoid all contact with livestock or wildlife for at least 14 days following arrival in Ireland.”

Ireland’s controls to prevent FMD include strict prohibitions on the imports of animals and animal products from countries in which FMD is present; a comprehensive veterinary surveillance system to detect unusual disease outbreaks; and active follow up and veterinary investigation of any suspects reports.

If an FMD outbreak were to be confirmed in Ireland, the infected herd would be culled, the site disinfected, and a 3k protection zone and 10k surveillance zone set up, within which very strict movement controls and testing would be imposed. A national movement ban would very likely be imposed in the first days after any initial FMD case.

If a case of FMD were to occur in Ireland, it would lead to the immediate loss of market access for Irish animals and animal products.

On 7th March Minister Muir reiterated the call for vigilance.

DAERA is closely monitoring the situation and can confirm that there has been no movement of susceptible species into Northern Ireland from Hungary or Slovakia during the established risk window.

Brian Dooher, the Chief Veterinary Officer for Northern Ireland, said: “DAERA requests the support of all stakeholders in staying vigilant and promptly reporting any unusual symptoms in livestock. These measures are essential to safeguarding our livestock and protecting the vital agricultural sector across Northern Ireland.”

FMD has serious consequences for animal health, trade and industry. The 2001 FMD outbreak across the UK resulted in the culling of approximately 6.5million animals and had an estimated economic impact of £8billion. This was the last time the disease was detected in Northern Ireland.

Slovakia declares state of emergency over foot and mouth disease cases

As Slovakia continues its efforts to rid the country of foot-and-mouth disease, after a state of emergency was declared across the whole country on Tuesday 25th March.

A new outbreak of the disease has been detected in Hungary, approximately 15 kilometres from the Slovak border near Bratislava.

Disinfection mats have been installed at Hungarian border crossings, veterinarians are monitoring the situation in the field, and the disposal of infected animals is ongoing.

Minister of Agriculture Richard Takáč provided details about the situation during a press conference.

“In Hungary, another farm has been confirmed to have the viral disease foot-and-mouth,” he said. “It is situated 40 kilometres from the first farm where the virus was confirmed in Hungary on 6 March.”

FMD was confirmed in a 1,400-head dairy cattle herd in Kisbajcs in the north-west of Hungary and reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health on 7 March 2025. The Slovak Government has since reported further cases of the disease close to the Slovakian–Hungarian border.

Event Irish troops have been warned to be on high alert.

Almost 200 Irish soldiers heading to Europe for a major exercise have been ordered to be on their guard against a deadly new enemy – FMD.

The Irish Sunday Mirror reported that that 174 members of the Defence Forces travelling to Hungary next month have been given urgent written instructions over a disease flare-up.

The outbreak, which can be fatal in animals, was confirmed in a farm 40kms away from their exercise site.

On 10 January 2025, Germany reported Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) to the World
Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH (WOAH, 2025). Cases in water buffalo in Märkisch-Oderland (3 of a herd of 14 dead), Brandenburg represent the first reports of FMD in Germany since 1988, and the first cases in the European Union (EU) since 2011 (Bulgaria). The German National Reference Laboratory for Foot-and-Mouth Disease the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) has characterised the causative virus as serotype O, the exact origin and incursion route is currently unknown. The local authorities have taken control and protection measures, including restrictions on susceptible animal movements in Brandenburg and Berlin, a 1km cull around the infected premises, suspending export
health certificates and the closure of zoos while further tests are being carried out at the FLI. Additionally, an FLI team is supporting the outbreak investigation on the ground.