Sessions

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) reappeared in Hungary in 2025 after several decades of absence. Although the disease does not pose a direct risk to human health, it has serious economic and social consequences and highlights the importance of timely and credible communication in crisis situations. The aim of our research was to explore what knowledge the Hungarian population has about the disease, how they perceive the risks, what consumer reactions can be observed, and how they evaluate the measures and communication of the authorities.

The study was based on a questionnaire survey of 1020 respondents, representative of the Hungarian population by gender, age, and region through quota sampling. Data were collected through personal interviews between 3 and 29 July 2025. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS software, applying descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations and analysis of variance.

According to the results, 96.4% of respondents had heard of FMD. Main sources of information were online news portals, television, social media, radio. Most people did not substantially change their consumption habits: the largest decrease was observed in beef consumption, directly related to the affected species, while milk and dairy products, also linked to cattle, showed only a minor decline. Smaller reductions were seen in pork consumption, and interestingly also in poultry, although poultry is not affected by the disease. In terms of social perception, the greatest concerns were economic losses, animal welfare, rising food prices and environmental impacts.

Based on the knowledge test, a significant proportion of respondents were uncertain about the characteristics of the disease and the official measures, and many mistakenly believed that meat from infected animals could be hazardous to human health. In terms of animal health awareness, most respondents were familiar with avian influenza, rabies, BSE, FMD and tuberculosis. FMD was considered the most significant economic risk, while rabies was perceived as the most relevant health risk.

Regarding credible sources of information, respondents placed the greatest trust in veterinarians, lecturers of the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest (UVMB) and virologists. Among institutions, UVMB and Semmelweis University received the highest evaluations. The outbreak was most often attributed to illegal livestock transport, human negligence or wild animals. Overall, 51% of respondents considered the work of the authorities at least partially adequate, while the most frequent criticism concerned shortcomings in communication and public information.

The study shows that the societal management of animal disease outbreaks depends not only on professional measures but also on public trust. Future crisis communication should focus on directly affected groups, correct misconceptions quickly, and strengthen the role of veterinarians and professional institutions in providing reliable information.