Spring Fox Vaccination Campaign Begins
The campaign for vaccinating foxes against rabies starts on March 30th in the southern and eastern counties of Hungary.
Concurrent with the immunization, an animal movement ban and grazing prohibition will be in effect - announced the National Food Chain Safety Office (Nébih) on its website on Monday.
It was highlighted that the list of municipalities involved in the program, sorted by county, is available on the office’s website (portal.nebih.gov.hu).
According to the announcement, during the immunization process, vaccine-containing baits will be distributed to the affected areas with the help of small aircraft. The operation will not affect populated, densely built-up areas.
The competent district veterinary offices and municipal governments will inform the population about the implementation of the animal movement ban and the grazing prohibition, as well as the specific dates for each area. In rural areas, posters will warn hikers.
They pointed out that the disease regularly occurs in the country’s eastern neighbors, Ukraine and Romania, and has also appeared in several places in the eastern region of Slovakia recently. In 2022, the rabies situation in Hungary changed as well, with incidences identified by professionals near the Ukrainian border in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county: 4 times in 2022, 16 in 2023, and 12 times so far in 2024. Since September 2022, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county lost its disease-free status, but the rest of the country remains unaffected.
The introduction of the disease is presumably due to natural movement of wildlife from the direction of Ukraine. Currently, areas close to Ukraine face a higher than usual epidemiological risk due to the war, as local veterinary authorities have been unable to carry out vaccination programs for foxes.
Therefore, maintaining domestic veterinary preventive measures, such as vaccinating wild foxes, mandatory vaccination of dogs, and reporting suspected cases of rabies to the veterinary authorities are of paramount importance. It is also mandated by law to report any suspicions of the disease. The veterinary authorities will take care of sampling in cases of domestic animals exhibiting neurological symptoms and found deceased, as well as dead wild animals found - reads the Nébih announcement.
It was highlighted that the list of municipalities involved in the program, sorted by county, is available on the office’s website (portal.nebih.gov.hu).
According to the announcement, during the immunization process, vaccine-containing baits will be distributed to the affected areas with the help of small aircraft. The operation will not affect populated, densely built-up areas.
The competent district veterinary offices and municipal governments will inform the population about the implementation of the animal movement ban and the grazing prohibition, as well as the specific dates for each area. In rural areas, posters will warn hikers.
They pointed out that the disease regularly occurs in the country’s eastern neighbors, Ukraine and Romania, and has also appeared in several places in the eastern region of Slovakia recently. In 2022, the rabies situation in Hungary changed as well, with incidences identified by professionals near the Ukrainian border in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county: 4 times in 2022, 16 in 2023, and 12 times so far in 2024. Since September 2022, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county lost its disease-free status, but the rest of the country remains unaffected.
The introduction of the disease is presumably due to natural movement of wildlife from the direction of Ukraine. Currently, areas close to Ukraine face a higher than usual epidemiological risk due to the war, as local veterinary authorities have been unable to carry out vaccination programs for foxes.
Therefore, maintaining domestic veterinary preventive measures, such as vaccinating wild foxes, mandatory vaccination of dogs, and reporting suspected cases of rabies to the veterinary authorities are of paramount importance. It is also mandated by law to report any suspicions of the disease. The veterinary authorities will take care of sampling in cases of domestic animals exhibiting neurological symptoms and found deceased, as well as dead wild animals found - reads the Nébih announcement.
Translation:
Translated by AI
