PRAGUE, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Central European states are seeking European Union (EU) wide coordination to contain the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), Czech Minister of Agriculture Marek Vyborny said on Wednesday.

The minister told journalists that the objective is to present a unified proposal to the European Commission together with partners from the Visegrad Group (V4) -- Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary -- and neighboring Austria and Germany.

"The current situation requires a coordinated response at the EU level to prevent further spread of the disease and to protect livestock in individual member states," he said.

Also on Wednesday, the Czech government approved the deployment of military veterinarians to assist in border controls in response to the current situation surrounding FMD.

Up to 20 military veterinarians are expected to support the State Veterinary Administration and contribute to inspections of cargo transport from Thursday or Friday, according to the ministry of agriculture.

The minister added that extraordinary veterinary measures are already in place, and an emergency status would only be declared if an outbreak was confirmed on a Czech farm.

According to the latest reports, new FMD outbreaks have been confirmed on farms in Slovakia and Hungary. One outbreak in Slovakia at the beginning of the week lies just about 50 km from the border with the Czech Republic.

In the Czech Republic, in addition to restrictions on the import of livestock and animal products, the ban also extends to feed, including hay and straw, from Slovakia and Hungary.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious viral illness that primarily affects cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats. It causes fever, loss of appetite, excessive salivation, and blisters on the mouth and feet.

In the Czech Republic, the disease was last detected in 1975. Enditem

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