A lion in a Hungarian zoo died after it ate beef infected with the deadly anthrax disease identified in a nearby farm in the eastern region of the country, national news agency MTI reported on Thursday.

Citing the local veterinary authority, MTI said the infected meat came from the village of Esztar. It went to the zoo in the city of Debrecen.

Two lions, two leopards and a tiger ate from the infected meat, Istvan Tischler, director of the local veterinary authority told MTI. One of the lions died, while the rest of the animals are being monitored after receiving preventive medicine.

He said the farm, where the infected cow had been identified, had been placed under quarantine and the pigs and dogs got preventive medicine.

He said around 70 animals in the zoo, which could be susceptible to the infection, would have to be vaccinated.

The zoo has been closed to visitors temporarily.

The disease would not spread from human to human, from one animal to another, or from infected animals to humans, Tischler told MTI.

(Reporting by Krisztina Than Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)