Takac: Cattle Culling in Plavecky Stvrtok to Start Probably on Wednesday

Bratislava, March 30 (TASR) - Cattle culling at a farm in the village of Plavecky Stvrtok in the district of Malacky (Bratislava region), at which the presence of foot-and-mouth disease was confirmed on Sunday, will probably start on Wednesday (April 2), Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD) said following a meeting of the central crisis management team on Sunday evening. According to Takac, there are over 3,500 pieces of cattle at the farm. "These animals will be slaughtered based on legislation, necessity and obligation probably as of Wednesday. There's no benevolence here...it is necessary to do so in order to protect the whole society, the entire Slovakia," stated the minister. Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) added that the infection probably got to the Plavecky Stvrtok farm from a farm in the Hungarian village of Level, from where a worker may have brought it on March 17. Takac reported that the state continues to dispose of the slaughtered cattle in the only Slovak rendering facility in Zilina, as well as at the military premises near the town of Levice (Nitra region). Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) added that a new location will have to be found for the disposal of livestock. None of the ministers specified it; however, they assured the public that groundwaters won't be contaminated and it will mean no risk for residents of the area. The agriculture minister also said that they learned the information about the confirmation of the disease in Plavecky Stvrtok a few minutes before the crisis management team meeting. It stems from government officials' statements that they find the current measures and their settings to be sufficient. The presence of foot-and-mouth disease has been confirmed at livestock farms in five villages in southern and western Slovakia so far: in Medvedov, Narad, Baka, Luc na Ostrove and Plavecky Stvrtok. The first three outbreaks were detected last Friday (March 21), the fourth one this Tuesday (March 25) and the last one on Sunday. The incubation period of the disease is seven to 14 days. ko