In Hungary's Győr-Moson-Sopron county, over 3,000 farm animals are being buried near the border with Austria following a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Levél. Although most cattle were healthy, slaughtering was mandated to contain the disease. The remains will be buried under layers of lime, straw, and earth, with local residents fearing groundwater contamination from the mass grave. EU regulations dictate the immediate destruction of infected herds to prevent further spread, affecting farmers coercively despite slight infections in their herds.
The owner of the Western Gate Co-operative, Paul Meixner, an Austrian-born Hungarian citizen, has been keeping animals in Levél for 30 years. His entire farm could now be at risk - had to slaughter all his cattle, even though only 5% of the herd was infected. "It's an EU veterinary regulation, every member state has to work according to it. The infected herd has to be destroyed, precisely described, because if it goes on it could infect the whole country. That's why it has to be localised," Paul Meixner explained to Euronews.
We have our own wells, our own drilled wells, they bury the animals close enough. We are afraid of contaminating our drinking water. It's good that they promised us that there would be a water network, but we don't want something to happen first," says Mihály Bakos, who has lived in Csermeztanya since 1959.
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