Freight impacted as Austria closes more borders due to foot and mouth outbreak
Road freight transports leaving and entering Austria face delays after the closure of more border crossings due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease which Hungarian officials have claimed might be a biological attack. A total of 24 crossings have now been closed at the request of Austrian health authorities, according to the Ministry of the Interior. A further 11 crossings between Austria and its neighbours in Hungary and Slovakia have been affected this week, as a means of preventing the spread of the disease, with ones that remain open requiring extra inspections and verification of documents.
The closures took effect on 5 April and will stay in place until midnight on 20 May, say the authorities. Government officials in Hungary meanwhile have suggested a 'biological attack' may be behind its own foot and mouth outbreak, the first such outbreak in 50 years.
'Biological attack'
Gergely Gulyas, chief of staff for Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said that it may be dealing with an 'artificially engineered virus', reported the Reuters news agency. The affected border crossings were determined in close coordination with the Austrian health authorities in the provinces of Lower Austria and Burgenland, the (the Chamber of Agriculture and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Tourism and Regions.
Rail traffic is not affected.
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