Re-entering EU from high-rabies country

[maputan]

Hi, I'm trying to get absolutely sure of the paperwork I need for cats to re-enter the EU.

The cats were originally brought from Vietnam to the EU in 2013. From this time, I have scans only of health certificates from the vet who vaccinated them (stating that they were vaccinated, with details of the date and batch number, but made several months after the vaccination); also scans of titer test results. It might be possible to track down the paper originals of these, but possibly not.

From then until 2017 they were in the EU, with the rabies vaccinations kept up to date. These vaccinations are recorded in their EU pet passports. Unfortunately, we didn't have another titer test done before leaving the EU.

Since then, they have been in Algeria (a high rabies country).

So my questions are:

-- do they need to have another titer test done before re-entering the EU?

-- if so, do they need to be revaccinated against rabies before the titer test?

-- would it make a difference to either of these if we located the original vaccination certificate from Vietnam, or the original paper health certificates or titer test results from then?

Thanks for any help you can give me!

[admin]

Re: Re-entering EU from high-rabies country

Maputan - the titer tests should be still valid to enter the EU again as long as you have kept your cats' rabies vaccinations up to date (booster shots were given before previous vaccination expired) and you have proof of this in the form of rabies certificates. If any of your cats' rabies vaccinations expired before boosters were given, even for a day, the titer test is no longer valid. The answer to your second question depends on the answer to the first question, but, if their rabies vaccinations lapsed and they need another test then it depends on when they were last vaccinated for rabies. The antibody level drops over time. If they are due for a booster, get that done about 3 weeks before the test. You may want to contact the lab that processed your cats' titer test and inquire as to official copies of the titer tests. Look them up on the Internet. We do not think it will be a problem, but worth a check to see if this can be done easily. When you get back to the EU have a vet record the titer test in the EU Pet Passport.
Susan