President: We Must Do Utmost to Stop Spread of Foot-and-mouth Disease

Bratislava, March 26 (TASR) - Slovakia must do its best to stop the spread of foot-and-mouth disease to other cattle farms, President Peter Pellegrini stated on Wednesday at a briefing following a meeting with Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD), while also calling for the instructions of state administration to be respected. Takac confirmed that Slovakia still has only four outbreaks recorded, but another one has appeared in neighbouring Hungary. "If we show disagreement or resistance, disobedience to these measures, we'll be harming ourselves, because in this case we'll allow the virus to spread to other parts of Slovakia," said the head of state, adding that this would have disastrous consequences. Pellegrini agrees with the government's decision to declare a state of emergency throughout Slovakia. This, he said, will allow all security forces to coordinate more effectively with each other. He also views positively the fact that the Fire and Rescue Corps will probably be able to use special containers that have been purchased to transport chemical substances from Chemko Strazske. "These are containers that, as they can hermetically transport hazardous chemicals, can probably be used for transporting these dead animals," noted the president. Takac urged farmers not to underestimate this viral disease and not to push for the measures to be eased prematurely. "We aren't yet in a situation in which we could ease completely everything in other parts of the Slovak Republic," emphasised Takac, adding that the situation will require further restrictions, such as the already announced closure of small border crossings with Hungary. am/df