- What are the current (up to December 31st 2011) rules relating to pet travel?
- What are the new rules?
- What are ‘listed’ and ‘unlisted’ countries?
- Do the regulations apply to animal other than dogs and cats?
- Why have the rules been changed?
- Surely this will increase the risk of rabies entering the UK?
- Why is the blood test no longer required for animals entering the UK from an EU member state or ‘listed’ 3rd country?
- Why has the waiting period been reduced to 21 days for animals entering the UK from an EU member state or ‘listed’ 3rd country?
- Why is there a 3-month waiting period after the blood test for an animal entering the UK from an ‘unlisted’ 3rd country?
- Will quarantine still exist?
- Why are tick controls being abolished?
- Why are tapeworm controls important?
- Will the incidence of ‘exotic’ diseases in the UK increase?
- Should we advise dogs or cats living in the UK to be vaccinated routinely against rabies?
- Should my staff be vaccinated?
- Are these the only rules an owner needs to follow before travelling with their pet?
1. What are the current (up to December 31st 2011) rules relating to pet travel?
The current UK Pet Travel Scheme allows cats and dogs to enter the UK from an EU member state or a ‘listed’ 3rd country provided that they are microchipped, have been vaccinated against rabies, have had a blood test to confirm an adequate serological response, and have waited for 6 months after the blood test before entry into the UK. Animals must be treated against ticks and tapeworms 24-48 hours before entry into the UK. All treatments must be recorded in a pet passport or 3rd country veterinary health certificate. Pets from ‘unlisted’ 3rd countries are required to spend 6 months in quarantine.
2. What are the new rules?
With effect from 1st January 2012, dogs and cats entering the UK from an EU member state or a ‘listed’ 3rd country will still need to be microchipped and to be vaccinated against rabies. However, a blood test will no longer be required, and the waiting period after vaccination will be reduced to 21 days. Tick treatment will not be required. Dogs entering the UK must have been treated by a veterinary surgeon against tapeworm one to five days previously. (This requirement for tapeworm treatment was agreed by the European Commission on 14th July, but has yet to be scrutinised by the European Parliament and Council.)
Dogs and cats entering the UK from an unlisted 3rd country will no longer be required to spend 6 months in quarantine provided they enter the UK through an approved route and meet the EU entry requirements (microchip, rabies vaccination, blood sample at least 30 days after vaccination, and a wait of 3 months after the blood sample). Tapeworm treatment is required as above.
3. What are ‘listed’ and ‘unlisted’ countries?
For the purposes of pet travel, countries are divided into 3 groups.
- EU member states or equivalent
- Listed 3rd countries – countries which the EU do not consider to present a higher risk of introducing disease compared to movement within the EU, or where there is evidence of effective systems for the reporting and control of rabies
- Unlisted 3rd countries – countries with a higher incidence of rabies, or with less robust veterinary or administrative systems, or which have not applied for listed status
You can find out which group a country falls into on the Defra website.
4. Do the regulations apply to animal other than dogs and cats?
These rules apply only to the entry of pet dogs, cats and ferrets into the UK. Rules relating to other species will remain as they are now; please see the Defra website for details.
5. Why have the rules been changed?
The EU pet movement scheme has been successful insofar as there has not been a single case of rabies associated with the legal movement of pets under the scheme since the system was introduced in 2004. The UK and four other member states were initially allowed two derogations to apply stricter controls on pet travel than the remaining member states. This was always intended by the EU to be a transitional measure. The view of the EU is that there is not sufficient evidence to support further extension of these derogations, and that harmonisation of the European pet travel rules should now take place.
6. Surely this will increase the risk of rabies entering the UK?
A quantitative risk assessment on the change in likelihood of rabies introduction into the UK was conducted by the VLA at the request of Defra, and the full text of this report may be found at the Defra website.
This study considered only animals entering the UK for the first time, and not animals normally living within the UK and returning after a period of travel. The study concluded that under the current UK Pet Travel Scheme there would be one rabies introduction every 13,272 years, but that with the new scheme this would increase to one rabies introduction every 211 years – a 60-fold increase in risk. However, the risk remains very low. Defra argues that the changes allow a more proportionate way of managing the risk of rabies.
7. Why is the blood test no longer required for animals entering the UK from an EU member state or ‘listed’ 3rd country?
Licensed rabies vaccines are known to be effective, and only a small proportion of animals fail to achieve the required serological titre. Defra argues that the blood test is therefore no longer needed as an additional safeguard for animals coming from countries where the risk of rabies in travelling pets is very low. The quantitative risk assessment on the change in likelihood of rabies introduction into the UK conducted by the VLA indicated that removal of the requirement for serological testing would increase the risk of rabies entry into the UK approximately 10-fold (which is included in the overall 60-fold increase in risk Q6).
8. Why has the waiting period been reduced to 21 days for animals entering the UK from an EU member state or ‘listed’ 3rd country?
It is clearly necessary for there to be an interval between rabies vaccination and entry into the UK, so that the individual animal has time to respond to vaccination and develop immunological protection. Animals may therefore not enter the UK until 21 days have elapsed since vaccination.
The VLA quantitative risk assessment concluded that a reduction in the waiting period from 6 months to 90 days would not greatly increase the risk of rabies entry, but that a shorter waiting period increases the risk more substantially. This increase in risk is included in the overall 60-fold increase in risk Q6.
9. Why is there a 3-month waiting period after the blood test for an animal entering the UK from an ‘unlisted’ 3rd country?
Animals entering the UK from an ‘unlisted’ 3rd country are deemed to be at a higher risk of contracting rabies than animals within the EU or a ‘listed’ 3rd country. The 3 month waiting period after the blood test is designed to safeguard against the entry of animals which may have been vaccinated while incubating the disease. Scientific evidence indicates that the usual incubation period of rabies is less than 4 months, which is covered by the 30 day wait between vaccination and the blood test, and the subsequent 3 month wait.
10. Will quarantine still exist?
Defra expect quarantine facilities to remain in some form for animals which fail to comply with the new rules, or for individuals who need to travel with their animals at short notice. However, there is no indication at this stage as to how such facilities would be financed.
11. Why are tick controls being abolished?
Current tick controls are targeted mainly at maintaining freedom from the dog tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus. Defra argues that there is a negligible risk of this tick, even if introduced, being able to establish itself in the UK under current climatic conditions. Furthermore they argue that ticks may enter the UK on people or in vehicles, and pet movements are not the only route of introduction.
However, it remains clear that there are important animal diseases which are tick borne and which can have profound implications for animal health.
- Babesiosis is principally a problem in dogs. The tick vector is common in central and southern Europe and is extending further north with climate change. Affected animals develop fever, anaemia, weakness, lethargy, weight loss, loss of appetite and red or dark urine. There may also be jaundice. Without treatment the disease may be fatal.
- Ehrlichiosis is widely distributed throughout the world, including Southern Europe. Clinical signs are variable, but may include depression, fever, and evidence of bleeding. Chronic cases may develop debility, weight loss, arthritis and neurological signs. Treatment may be effective in the early stages, but longer standing cases are less likely to respond.
- Hepatozoonosis is a relatively common disease in dogs (less so in cats) in warmer countries, including those bordering the Mediterranean. Many infected animals show no clinical signs unless immunosuppressed, but treatment is difficult.
BSAVA therefore strongly recommends continued prophylactic measures to guard against tick infestation.
12. Why are tapeworm controls important?
Tapeworm controls are currently targeted at prevention of Echincococcus multilocularis (EM). Human infection with this tapeworm results in a serious chronic disease, alveolar echinococcosis, which has signs similar to liver cancer, and this disease is increasing across the EU. The UK has been free from this tapeworm for at least the last 10 years, and the European Commission has accepted that there is a strong case for retaining tapeworm controls. The European Commission agreed on 14th July that dogs entering the UK (as well as Finland, Ireland and Malta) must be treated by a veterinary surgeon against tapeworm 1-5 days before entry. This decision has yet to be scrutinised by the European Parliament and Council. Defra argues that the slightly wider treatment window balances the need to reduce the risk of post-treatment infection with ensuring the greatest likelihood of compliance.
13. Will the incidence of ‘exotic’ diseases in the UK increase?
Since the introduction of the UK Pet Travel Scheme, it is true that a number of diseases not previously found in the UK have been recognized in travelled pets. It is a concern that increased travel of pets outside the UK as a result of relaxation of the regulations will result in a further increase in these diseases. It is therefore important that veterinary surgeons in the UK are aware of these diseases, including clinical signs, diagnosis, and treatment. Veterinary surgeons should also be prepared to discuss preventive measures with pet owners before they travel.
In addition to the tick borne diseases described above (Q11), it is important to be aware of:
- Leishamaniosis, which is a disease transmitted by sandflies occurring commonly in Mediterranean coastal areas. Common signs include skin lesions, weight loss, ocular lesions, and signs related to liver and kidney disease. The disease is fatal if untreated, and even with treatment animals may remain infected. Signs can develop months or years after travel.
- Heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) predominantly affects dogs but cats are also at risk. It may be transmitted by several species of mosquito, some of which are currently in the UK. Furthermore, recent work on climate in the UK has shown that, in southern England, the temperature would be appropriate for transmission within mosquitoes. Signs of infection with Heartworm may develop over months or years, and may include exercise intolerance, coughing, weight loss or occasional right sided heart failure.
The BVA Animal Welfare Foundation has produced useful advice for travellers about the risks and prevention of some common diseases when travelling with pets. The leaflet ‘Taking Your Pets Abroad’ is currently being updated, and will be available through the BVA website.
14. Should we advise dogs or cats living in the UK to be vaccinated routinely against rabies?
There is not currently a policy of compulsory rabies vaccination in the UK. The risk of an animal resident in the UK contracting rabies is very low (almost negligible) under the present circumstances. Routine rabies vaccination for animals which are not travelling outside the UK is not therefore currently recommended.
The UK situation differs from that in many mainland EU countries where routine rabies vaccination of dogs and cats is practiced and may be a legal requirement. The UK is an island state where rabies is not endemic and has not been recognized for many decades. In contrast, mainland EU countries have ‘open borders’, wildlife reservoirs of infection and occasional clinical cases of the disease. Rabies remains endemic in Eastern European/Middle Eastern countries. The global distribution of animal rabies is monitored and reported by the OIE.
Current WSAVA vaccination guidelines for dogs and cats (endorsed by BSAVA) suggest that rabies vaccines should be used in endemic areas (even if this is not a legal requirement) to control this major zoonotic disease. In non-endemic areas rabies vaccines are considered ‘non-core’ in animals that do not travel. Rabies vaccines are adjuvanted and it is considered that these products are one of the triggers for feline injection site sarcoma; so they should not be administered to cats unnecessarily.
WSAVA vaccination guidelines 2010 may be found at the WSAVA website.
The BSAVA Policy Statement on canine and feline vaccination can be found in the Advice section of the BSAVA website.
15. Should my staff be vaccinated?
Guidance on pre-exposure (prophylactic) immunisation is available from the Health Protection Agency.
16. Are these the only rules an owner needs to follow before travelling with their pet?
If an owner plans to travel with their pet to a country within the EU, then remember that the destination country will also apply the harmonised regulations. This means that you must consider the first day of travel when calculating the minimum 21 day wait after rabies vaccination, rather than the expected date of return into the UK.
If an owner plans to travel with their pet to a listed or unlisted 3rd country, the entry requirements for that country should be checked with Defra.