There are already more than one and a half million people who have left Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on February 24 and the war began, according to data from UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Ukrainian refugees arrive in waves in European countries and many are accompanied by their pets. In view of the situation, the European Commission has recommended that member countries adapt existing veterinary controls to make it easier for animals to enter with their owners.
In Spain, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has created a protocol with the rules that pets that enter our borders must comply with, especially with the intention of preventing the arrival of rabies, since in Ukraine it is a widespread disease and occurs even in humans.
As indicated in the document published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Ukraine is a third country that is not included in Annex II of Regulation (EU) 577/2013, so the usual conditions that sensitive pets must meet to the rage that come from there would be the following:
– The animal must carry the microchip that identifies it.
– The animal must be vaccinated against rabies.
– The animal must have passed a blood antibody assessment. The sample must have been taken at least 30 days after receiving the vaccine and three months before travel.
– An import certificate accompanying the animal has been issued, or in case of reintroduction, a passport certifying vaccination and antibody testing.
– Dogs, cats and ferrets under seven months will not be allowed to enter the country, which is the period established by the age of vaccination and the determination of post-vaccinal antibodies.
The current war situation therefore forces us to adapt the existing entry conditions. The new protocol would be as follows.
– Identification microchip. If the animal already has a microchip and it is legible, its re-identification will not be necessary. If this is not the case, the microchip will be placed.
– Rabies vaccine . Several assumptions are made.
- If the pet has been vaccinated against rabies in Ukraine , it will have a blood test for the count (titration) of antibodies and will be revaccinated on the spot. “If the qualification is favorable, the animal will remain with the owner in home isolation until completing a period of 3 months from the blood draw. If the qualification is unfavorable, a new qualification will be carried out after 30 days, remaining in quarantine in a public or private center. If the titer is unfavourable, revaccination 2 months after the previous vaccination and will remain in the quarantine center, with a new antibody titer 30 days after the second vaccination; If the titration is unfavorable again, the quarantine in the center will be completed for a maximum period of 6 months from the first blood draw. If the degree is favorable, the owner will complete the quarantine period of 3 months from the first blood draw”, the document indicates.
- If the pet has been vaccinated upon entering the European Union , the blood test will be done if 30 days have passed since the vaccination. If those days have not passed, the animal will have to be quarantined in a public or private center. “If the titration is favorable, the animal will complete the quarantine period of 3 months from the extraction of the blood in the company of its owner. If the titration is unfavorable, it will be revaccinated 2 months after the first vaccination and it will continue to act as in section 1”, says the protocol.
- If the pet was unvaccinated , it would be vaccinated and would have to be quarantined in a public or private center. Thirty days after being vaccinated, a blood test for antibody titer would be done. “If the degree is favorable, he will complete the 3-month quarantine period in the center; if it is unfavourable, revaccination after 2 months and continue in the same way as in points 1 and 2”, says the protocol.
Rabies risk
As indicated in the document published by the Ministry, the main rabies risk for our country is found in North Africa, “which is a highly endemic territory and a frequent source of imported cases in Ceuta and Melilla. This is demonstrated by the current outbreak in Melilla, which has become endemic and difficult to control and eradicate, which has increased the level of risk for the rest of the national territory.”
The next level of risk, “considerably lower”, would be that posed by the illegal importation of hunting dogs from Eastern Europe. The current situation in Ukraine means that the risk could increase “significantly”.
Rabies is widespread in Ukraine, occurring in both animals and humans. According to data from the Ministry, every year there are 1600 cases of rabies in animals in Ukraine and sporadic cases in humans have been recorded. “The cases affect both dogs and cats, although the proportion of attacks on people by infected animals was, in the period 1996-2020, dogs (1:124), cats (1:25), wild animals (1:7) and farm animals (1:2)”, reads the document.
Attacks on people by domestic carnivores were most often observed in the eastern part of Ukraine. This is due to the high urbanization and population density of the area.
In the last 25 years, 63 cases of rabies in humans have been recorded in Ukraine. The main origin was dogs (24 cases) and cats (22 cases).
The protocol also contemplates measures to prevent an endemic parasite from Ukraine, Echicococcus multilocularis, a worm that can be harbored by dogs and that produces cysts, mainly in the lungs and liver, but also in the heart, bones and brain and which can be deadly. In Spain it has not been detected in domestic animals.
The Ministry recommends giving animals arriving from the country at war a treatment of praziquantel or substances that alone or in combination have been shown to reduce the burden of mature and immature intestinal forms of the parasite in the affected host species.
