Terrestrial Animal Health Code

Contents | Index Chapter 8.9. Section 8. Chapter 8.11.

Chapter 8.10.


rabies


Article 8.10.1.


General provisions

For the purposes of the Terrestrial Code, the incubation period for rabies shall be 6 months, and the infective period in domestic carnivores starts 15 days before the onset of the first clinical signs and ends when the animal dies.

Standards for diagnostic tests and vaccines are described in the Terrestrial Manual.


Article 8.10.2.


Rabies free country

For the purposes of international trade, a country may be considered free from rabies when:

  1. the disease is notifiable;

  2. an effective system of disease surveillance is in operation;

  3. all regulatory measures for the prevention and control of rabies have been implemented including effective importation procedures;

  4. no case of indigenously acquired rabies infection has been confirmed in man or any animal species during the past 2 years; however, this status would not be affected by the isolation of Bat Lyssavirus;

  5. no imported case in carnivores has been confirmed outside a quarantine station for the past 6 months.


Article 8.10.3.


Recommendations for importation from rabies free countries

for domestic mammals, and wild mammals reared under confined conditions

Veterinary Authorities should require the presentation of an international veterinary certificate attesting that the animals:

  1. showed no clinical sign of rabies on the day of shipment;

  2. were kept since birth or for the 6 months prior to shipment in a rabies free country or were imported in conformity with the regulations stipulated in Articles 8.10.5., 8.10.6. or 8.10.7.


Article 8.10.4.


Recommendations for importation from rabies free countries

for wild mammals not reared under confined conditions

Veterinary Authorities should require the presentation of an international veterinary certificate attesting that the animals:

  1. showed no clinical sign of rabies on the day of shipment;

  2. have been captured in a rabies free country, at a sufficient distance from any infected country. The distance should be defined according to the species exported and the reservoir species in the infected country.


Article 8.10.5.


Recommendations for importation from countries considered infected with rabies

for dogs and cats

Veterinary Authorities should require the presentation of an international veterinary certificate attesting that the animals:

  1. showed no clinical sign of rabies within 48 hours of shipment;

AND EITHER

  1. were identified by a permanent mark (such as a microchip) and their identification number shall be stated in the certificate; and

  2. were vaccinated against rabies:

    1. not less than 6 months and not more than one year prior to shipment in the case of a primary vaccination, which should have been carried out when the animals were at least 3 months old;

    2. not more than one year prior to shipment in the case of a booster vaccination;

    3. with an inactivated virus vaccine or with a recombinant vaccine expressing the rabies virus glycoprotein; and

  3. were subjected not less than 3 months and not more than 24 months prior to shipment to an antibody test as prescribed in the Terrestrial Manual with a positive result equivalent to at least 0.5 IU/ml;

OR

  1. have not been vaccinated against rabies or do not meet all the conditions set out in points 2, 3 and 4 above; in such cases, the importing country may require the placing of the animals in a quarantine station located on its territory, in conformity with the conditions stipulated in its animal health legislation.


Article 8.10.6.


Recommendations for importation from countries considered infected with rabies

for domestic ruminants, equines and pigs

Veterinary Authorities should require the presentation of an international veterinary certificate attesting that the animals:

  1. showed no clinical sign of rabies on the day of shipment;

  2. were kept for the 6 months prior to shipment in an establishment where separation from wild and feral animals was maintained and where no case of rabies was reported for at least 12 months prior to shipment.


Article 8.10.7.


Recommendations for importation from countries considered infected with rabies

for laboratory reared rodents and lagomorphs, and lagomorphs or wild mammals (other than non-human primates) reared under confined conditions

Veterinary Authorities should require the presentation of an international veterinary certificate attesting that the animals:

  1. showed no clinical sign of rabies on the day of shipment;

  2. were kept since birth, or for the 6 months prior to shipment, in an establishment where no case of rabies was reported for at least 12 months prior to shipment.


Article 8.10.8.


Recommendations for importation from countries considered infected with rabies

for wild mammals not belonging to the orders of primates or carnivores and not reared under confined conditions

Veterinary Authorities should require the presentation of an international veterinary certificate attesting that the animals:

  1. showed no clinical sign of rabies on the day of shipment;

  2. were kept in a quarantine station for the 6 months prior to shipment.


Article 8.10.9.


Recommendations for importation from countries considered infected with rabies

for frozen semen of dogs

Veterinary Authorities should require the presentation of an international veterinary certificate attesting that the donor animals showed no clinical sign of rabies during the 15 days following collection of the semen.

  1. [Note: For non-human primates, reference should be made to Chapter 6.12.]

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Contents | Index Chapter 8.9. Chapter 8.11.