BONN, GERMANY — The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) reinstated Germany’s status of “free from foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) without vaccination” on April 14.

The country detected a case of FMD in a water buffalo herd on Jan. 10, 2025, in the federal state of Brandenburg. The outbreak was successfully contained with no further reports of the disease.

However, in early March, FMD was discovered in northwest Hungary. This was the country’s first reported case in over 50 years. Since then, more cases have been reported in Hungary and in the bordering Slovakia.

“There is no evidence whatsoever suggesting that the FMD outbreak in Brandenburg in early January 2025 and the FMD outbreak in Hungary in early March 2025 are connected,” said Germany’s Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).

The January outbreak was the first report of FMD in Germany since 1988.

In response, officials immediately established restricted zones, where transportation of animals and animal products was generally prohibited, according to BMEL. Livestock within those zones and identified contact farms were investigated to see where the disease may have spread. Additionally, Brandenburg and Berlin imposed a temporary standstill for cloven-hoof animals.

BMEL collaborated with German federal states and the European Union on further actionable steps. Discussions are ongoing with agricultural and food industry associations, BMEL said.

After the initial outbreak, several non-EU countries, including China and Malaysia, stopped imports of certain meat and dairy products from Germany. Great Britain, which is an important export market for German animals and animal products, also paused imports from Germany. While creating a setback, BMEL was able to quickly reopen the markets with its commitment to biosecurity measures.

Although Germany has been declared free of FMD, Hungary and Slovakia are still working to address the outbreak within their borders.

Several countries, including the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Australia, Czech Republic and Poland, have issued import restrictions from Slovakia and Hungary due to the FMD outbreak.

BMEL said Germany is providing doses of vaccine in order to prevent the spread of the disease.