Culling of Cattle at Baka Farm Continues at Rate of 300 Animals per Day

Baka, March 24 (TASR) - The culling of cattle is continuing at a farm in the village of Baka in the district of Dunajska Streda (Trnava region) that has been hit by foot-and-mouth disease, with some 300 cows being killed daily, Juraj Slaninka, the chairman of the board of directors of Exata Group, told TASR on Monday, adding that the process should be completed on Tuesday (March 25). "Our herd wasn't vaccinated, as culling was launched immediately. It's fully underway at a rate of some 300 [cows] per day. We expect this process to be completed tomorrow," said Slaninka. According to him, all the slaughtered animals had been transported to a facility in Zilina by Sunday (March 23) evening. The herd in Baka consisted of some 1,060 dairy cows, 50 older heifers and 220 calves. The farm annually produced 12 million litres of milk before the outbreak of the disease. The presence of foot-and-mouth disease has been confirmed at livestock farms in three villages in southern Slovakia - Medvedov, Narad and Baka. The disease probably reached Slovakia from Hungary. A state of emergency has been declared in the district of Dunajska Streda since Friday (March 21) evening. Foot-and-mouth is a serious, highly contagious and febrile viral disease among livestock with significant economic impacts. ko/df