Farmers can apply for a maximum of HUF 70,000 in damages per sacrificed sow, the ministry said in a statement. African swine fever reached Europe in the spring of 2018, with Romania the most affected country, where a total of 900 outbreaks have been reported and 230,000 pigs had to be culled.
In September, Romania asked for the EU’s financial assistance to deal with the effects of the outbreak. Once infection is detected on a pig farm, all animals have to be culled. The disease – while the carrying vectors are often human – does not affect humans.
According to data from the Hungarian Food Safety Office NÉBIH there are currently 330 areas in Hungary hit with various levels of restriction – area under observation, infected area or area under special surveillance – due to the swine fever.f
Arican swine fever has already reached Western Europe – in the first days of October 4,000 pigs had to be culled in Belgium.
The disease can have significant economic repercussions, due to the fact that pork exports account for 8.5 percent of the European Union’s agricultural output and 62 percent of its meat exports.
