6 October 2026: Outbreak of bluetongue virus in Slovakia
Updated 7 October 2026
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/official-veterinary-surgeon-ovs-notes/6-october-2026-outbreak-of-bluetongue-virus-in-slovakia
Purpose
To inform you of new import restrictions on imports of live ruminants from Slovakia due to an outbreak of Bluetongue Virus (BTV). The outbreak also affects imports of ruminant germinal products from Slovakia.
Background
Slovakia confirmed outbreaks of BTV-3 in cattle to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) (see the World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS) notification) on 2 October 2026. As a result, Slovakia has lost its BTV-free status.
In response to the outbreak, the list of EU/EFTA countries approved to export live ungulates to Great Britain has been updated today (6 October 2026) to apply Supplementary Guarantee ‘A’ to the entry for Slovakia. This guarantee requires all live ruminants exported to Great Britain from Slovakia to be vaccinated against all serotype/s of BTV circulating in the country.
However, BTV-3 vaccines authorised for use in the EU cannot currently be used for trade purposes due to the lack of information on the duration of immunity period of the vaccine, meaning imports from Slovakia cannot comply with the relevant part of the certificate. Consequently, imports of live ruminants from Slovakia cannot be certified for export to Great Britain.
In addition to the above, the loss of BTV-free status for Slovakia means that imports of ruminant germinal products from Slovakia are now required to comply with the relevant testing requirements for BTV as set out in relevant health certificates and in Appendix 2 of the Import Information Note.
Contact point for enquiries
Email: imports@apha.gov.uk
Imports and EU Trade Team