21 August 2025: Outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Argentina
Updated 22 August 2025
© Crown copyright 2025
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/official-veterinary-surgeon-ovs-notes/21-august-2025-outbreak-of-highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-in-argentina
(OVS) note number: 2025/58
Date: 21 August 2025
1. Purpose
To inform you that imports of the following commodities from Argentina are suspended due to a recent outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI):
- fresh poultry, ratite and wild game bird meat produced on or after 19 August 2025
- meat products from poultry, ratites and wild game birds that have not been subject to treatment ‘D’ or higher (such as, treatments ‘D’, ‘C’ or ‘B’, as defined in Annex 1)
If you have any query about this OVS note, contact the APHA Imports and EU Trade Team by email at imports@apha.gov.uk.
2. Background
Argentina have notified the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) of their first case of HPAI since 2023, which was confirmed on 19 August 2025. This outbreak was located on a commercial poultry farm in the province of Buenos Aires. View the detailed outbreak report on the World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS) event dashboard.
We do not currently have a regionalisation agreement with Argentina for HPAI and, as such, the whole territory of Argentina is no longer considered free from HPAI.
To mitigate against the risk of HPAI, the UK Office for SPS Trade Assurance amended its third country listings on 21 August 2025 to suspend imports of the following commodities from the whole territory of Argentina:
- Fresh meat of poultry, farmed ratites and wild game birds produced on or after 19 August 2025. This has been achieved through the insertion of a closing date of 19/08/2025 in column 6A of Argentina’s entry for fresh poultry meat (POU), wild game bird meat (WGM) and farmed ratite meat (RAT) in the Poultry and Poultry Products third country listing.
- Meat products of poultry, farmed ratites and wild game birds that have not been subject to at least heat treatment ‘D’. Treatment ‘D’ requires that products are subject to ‘A minimum temperature of 70°C which must be reached throughout the meat and/or stomachs, bladders and intestines during the processing of meat products and treated stomachs, bladders and intestines. This has been achieved through the application of treatment ‘D’ in column 7 of Argentina’s entry in the Meat Products third country listing.
The eggs (E), egg products (EP) and specified pathogen-free eggs (SPF) certificates include assurances to address the risk of introduction of HPAI, therefore closing dates have not been applied to these commodities in the Poultry and Poultry Products third country listing.
3. Annex 1
Meat products intended for human consumption must undergo one of the higher heat treatments as defined in Annex II, Part 4 of Assimilated Decision 2007/777.
These treatments include:
- treatment B: Treatment in a hermetically sealed container to a Fo value of 3 or more
- treatment C: A minimum temperature of 80°C must be reached throughout the meat and/or stomachs, bladders and intestines during processing
- treatment D: A minimum temperature of 70°C must be reached throughout the meat and/or stomachs, bladders and intestines during processing