4 February 2026: Outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in Botswana
Updated 5 February 2026
© Crown copyright 2026
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/4-february-2026-outbreak-of-foot-and-mouth-disease-in-botswana
OVS note number: 2026/04
Date: 4 February 2026
Purpose
To inform you that, following a recent outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Botswana, imports of fresh bovine meat are now restricted.
Background
Botswana has notified WOAH of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in a herd of cattle confirmed on 29 January 2025: WAHIS.
The outbreak is in Zone 6b of Botswana, from which imports of fresh bovine meat are not permitted (due to an earlier outbreak of FMD in 2022) – see entry BW-6 in the list of countries approved to export fresh meat of ungulates to Great Britain. Further suspicions of disease have now also been reported in Zone 3c.
OVS note 2026/02 was issued on 30 January 2026, notifying of the FMD outbreak and requesting that consignments of fresh bovine meat and animal by-products that have not undergone a form of risk-mitigating treatment be held.
Defra has assessed the current situation and determined that, until the extent of the outbreak of disease in Botswana is clarified, imports into GB of fresh bovine meat processed on or after 30 December 2025 from Botswana should be temporarily restricted. This restriction has been implemented today (4 February 2026) by applying a closing date of 30 December 2025 to Botswana’s listings for fresh meat from bovine animals in the fresh meat of ungulates list. As a result of this change, imports of fresh bovine meat produced in Botswana on or after 30 December 2025 are now restricted.
Although Botswana is also listed for imports of fresh meat of ovines, caprines, and farmed and wild non-domestic ruminants, these are not eligible for import as there are no approved residue control programmes for these commodities.
Whilst approvals for some ABPs are linked to the fresh meat listing, Botswana cannot send ABPs to Great Britain. This is because there are no ABP establishments approved to export to Great Britain. As a result, exports of affected ABPs from Botswana continue to be prohibited.
Please be aware that fresh beef produced in Botswana can be dispatched to the UK from a cold store in South Africa, these consignments are also subject to these restrictions.
Contact point for enquiries
Email: imports@apha.gov.uk
Imports and EU Trade Team