Importing Foreign Rescues

Diseases of Imported Pets

Adopting a pet from abroad can be a very exciting and rewarding experience however there are a few important things to consider before welcoming a new pet into the family.

There are several diseases that can come with imported pets, many of which have serious health implications for both humans and other animals that do not have any immunity to diseases that aren’t commonly found in this country. Some of these diseases show no clinical signs, so knowing if they are present can allow early and potentially more successful treatment, avoiding heartache and expense of serious illness in your pet in the future as well as preventing spread to other non-travelled pets. The following relates to animals coming from continental Europe. Information regarding infectious disease from other countries can be found. Click the button below for more.

There is no legal requirement currently to test animals prior to import, though this is the ideal.

Disease	Transmitted	Tests/Prevention	Signs	Countries Prevalent
Brucellosis	Sexually or through ingestion. Some puppies can be born with it.	Human Health risk Blood test to look for antibodies 3 months after import	Reproductive failure, sore or swollen testes, back pain, lethargy and Lymph node enlargement.	Southern and Eastern Europe Mexico, South and Central America.
Ehrlichiosis	Via Ticks	Blood test for antibodies as soon as possible after import. History of regular tick prevention.	Anaemia, Neurological issues and immunosuppression	Rhone Valley and the Mediterranean
Rabies	Via bites from infected animals	Human Health Risk Vaccination and relevant titre test (depending on country of origin) for Pet Passport	Fever, Difficulty swallowing, weakness, change in behaviour, aggression excessive salivating.	Most of Asia and Africa high risk
Hepatozoon canis (less common)	Via ingestion of infected ticks (rather than tick bite)	PCR blood test soon as possible after import	fever, pain, lameness, muscle atrophy, and ocular discharge.	Mediterranean, Middle East, Africa, Asia, India
Leishmaniasis	Via Sandfly bites	Human Health risk low- no sandflies in UK. Antibody test as soon as possible after arrival and then every 6-12 months as can take 2-3 years before becoming positive.	Weight loss, skin problems, lethargy and swollen lymph nodes.	Mediterranean and Middle East
Echinococcus	Ingestion of parasite	Human Health Risk. History of monthly Treatment with Praziquantel prior to arrival and for at least the month after arrival. No test	Can be asymptomatic	Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and France
Heart Worm	Via Mosquito Bites	Blood test as soon as possible after arrival to look for evidence of adult worms – need to be over 6 months old. History of regular heart worm prevention.	Causes signs similar to heart failure	France, Spain, Italy and the Mediterranean
Babesiosis	Via Ticks	PCR Blood test as soon as possible after import. History of regular tick prevention.	Anaemia, Weakness and blood in urine	France
Anaplasma (less common)	Via ticks	Human Health Risk Blood test for antibodies as soon as possible after import	Anaemia, bleeding tendency, fever, shifting lameness	Europe (1 species in UK already) Asia, S. America

Many of these diseases are incredibly hard and expensive to treat and often cannot be cured completely; meaning they may always pose a health risk to both the humans and animals they live with.

It is important to ensure that before proceeding with adopting animals from abroad that the correct health testing has been carried out as this is the only way to protect the population of cats and dogs in the UK that would not normally be exposed to these diseases. This is rarely done, though many of the rescue societies do try to do what they can with limited funds.

Please think carefully before importing a new pet from abroad. These are not theoretical risks and we are starting to see an increase in the number of these serious diseases in animals that have not come from abroad suggesting transmission is starting to occur within the UK in our non-travelled dog population.

Cats: Can also carry infections to the UK that we do not have here including Babesia felis, Leishmania, Heartworm and Erhlichia, however, unlike dogs we do not routinely advise the screening of well cats with a history of travel as they have a lower risk of infection and a lower risk of transmitting infection to other animals. However, it is important to let your vet know if your cat has come from/spent time abroad as if it were to become sick this may affect what investigative tests are performed.