Hungarian villagers who live near the burial grounds of thousands of cattle slaughtered due to mouth-and-mouth outbreaks say they are worried about the effects of the bodies on their water supply.
Hungary reported its first outbreak of the disease last week, for the first time in over 50 years, affecting at least 3,500 cattle in the country’s northwest, near the border between Slovakia and Austria.
Soldiers were deployed and disinfection measures were launched to contain spreads, but thousands of animals were culled.
In the north county of Győr-Moson-sopron, Hungary, more than 3,000 animal bodies have recently been buried between the settlements of Csemeztanya and Irénpuszta.
Drone footage from the burial site is provided to Euroneus by anonymous sources, while other videos are widely shared on social media. This video shows liquids and bubble gases on the surface of the earth. This is due to disassembly, experts say.
One of the videos was shared on Facebook by László Nyul, who lives in Csemeztanya, a few hundred meters from the cemetery. He told Euronows that the smell had been terrible since the animal was buried.
“We’re scared, our kids are scared. We put all our money in this house. It’s my parents’ home and where they lived when we were little,” he said.
“We wanted to get out of town. We wanted to go out here and come to a peaceful and quiet place. But they’re going to make it completely impossible for us to stay here.”
Nür said he was concerned that the bodies would contaminate wells that supply water to local farms and called on Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagie to assure local residents that they will receive help if they suffer due to the burial site.
Regional fear
However, it’s not just those who are worried about it. Hegyeshalom, the town closest to the cemetery, held an emergency meeting in the mayor’s office on Sunday in response to a video posted on social media.
Mayor László Szőke sued the authorities for help and said he hopes the current situation is temporary.
“I don’t think we’ve finished the work here. But a video was created during the work process, which shows that in reality the grounding is not completely done,” Szkke told Euronows.
When EuroNews visited the site, there was a security company protecting the area around the burial site, and all cars passing by had been turned back.
In response to the video, the Ministry of Agriculture tried to reassure the public.
Dr. Szabolcs Pásztor, the National Chief Veterinary Surgeon, said that everything is done according to regulations and the effects of decomposition seen in videos shared online are natural for the numerous animals killed.
On Saturday, Austria closed 20 dozen border crossings between neighbors, Hungary and Slovakia, to prevent the disease from entering the country. Slovakia declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after the disease was discovered on three farms.
This disease poses no danger to humans and affects mostly other slender animals such as cows, pigs, sheep and goats. Infected animals experience fever and mouth blisters as symptoms of the disease.
Outbreaks often lead to trade restrictions and some livestock culls.
