EXPERIENCES WITH THE ERADICATION OF AUJESZKY'S DISEASE FROM SMALL PIG HERDS IN DEVAVANYA, BEKES COUNTY, HUNGARY, 1998-2000
A. Pallaghy and I. Szabo

Abstract
Pig breeding and the size of the pig population are major factors in determining the performance of the agricultural sector in Hungary. A unique feature of Hungarian pig husbandry is the high ratio of small, so-called "backyard" farms within the total pig population. Although the attitude of politics to small-scale producers was variable in different historical periods, this sector of production was always important for the rural population as a source of additional income and economically produced food for their own consumption (Fig. 1).
For those reasons, pig farms of a small size will exist for a long time. However, like large herds, such small farms may be affected with certain infectious diseases and can harbour and spread their pathogenic agents. The special methods of keeping animals, the efforts of small-scale producers to keep the production costs to a minimal level, and less emphasis laid on the strict requirements for the production of "quality" products make this back-yard sector a major hazard to the epizootiological status of the entire national pig population.

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