Foot and mouth disease – which hasn’t been detected in Hungary for over half a century – has broken out in the country, forcing Austria and Slovakia to shut their borders. It’s sweeping through Europe forcing the closure of borders, with fears it could have been launched in a “biological attack”. Livestock are being slaughtered by the thousands, the first in more than 50 years.
In response, Austria and Slovakia have closed dozens of their border crossings to the landlocked country, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health. A Hungarian spokesperson said the disease, which was first detected on a cattle farm near the northwest border, may have been “artificially engineered”.