Five people are being monitored at a Hungarian hospital after the discovery of the deadly anthrax disease in samples of beef, reports say.

The five were admitted to hospital over concerns that they may have been infected by the disease.

The disease was discovered in frozen meat from two animals that had been slaughtered illegally, the Hungarian health agency says.

Anthrax is caused by a bacteria that occurs naturally in soil.

Symptoms of anthrax exposure include skin ulcers, nausea, vomiting and fever. Left untreated, it can lead to death.

The animals in the latest outbreak were reportedly slaughtered at a farm in Tiszafured, a town 160km east of Budapest.