Hungary suspects cattle disease outbreak is bioterrorism attack

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Hungary is grappling with its first foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in over five decades, with cases detected at a cattle farm near the Austrian and Slovakian borders. In response, the Hungarian government has raised concerns about potential bioterrorism as the source of the outbreak.

In an unprecedented development this March, authorities were forced to take drastic measures, including the mass burial of thousands of farm animals near the Austria-Hungary border in Levél to contain the spread of the disease.

While some might dismiss this as a routine agricultural challenge or attribute it to inadequate health inspections, Hungarian officials are exploring a more sinister possibility.

‘We May Be Dealing With an Artificially Engineered Virus’: Hungarian Senior Official Says Outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in the Country May Be BIOTERRORISM Attack

Animal health authorities inspected around 1,000 farms across Hungary today.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor… pic.twitter.com/qQgDBvLNq6

— .*Funkytown™*. (@01Funkytown) April 10, 2025

“At this stage, we can say that it cannot be ruled out that the virus was not of natural origin, we may be dealing with an artificially engineered virus,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, told a media briefing.

Animal health authorities have conducted extensive inspections, examining approximately 1,000 farms throughout Hungary. The results revealed only four positive cases, all concentrated in the previously affected northwestern region.

As reported by Reuters: “Hungary on Thursday suggested a ‘biological attack’ as a possible source of the country’s first foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in more than half a century, which has triggered border closures and the mass slaughter of cattle in the northwest.”

When pressed for details during the media briefing, Gulyas maintained the possibility of a biological attack, though he declined to speculate on potential perpetrators.

A foot-and-mouth outbreak in Hungary that has caused border restrictions and the culling of thousands of animals could have come from an artificially engineered virus, the prime minister's office has suggested https://t.co/Sl4mJxy5pE pic.twitter.com/ECPUdRY6ow

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 10, 2025