On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a temporary ban on the importation of  dogs from Egypt due to the risk of importing rabies.

Rabies
A canine suspected of being rabid that had been exhibiting signs of restlessness, and overall uncharacteristic aggressive behavior, which are two symptoms of rabies.
Image/CDC

Given three recent cases of rabid dogs imported from Egypt since May of 2015, CDC is taking this action to protect public health and prevent the reintroduction of dog rabies (canine rabies virus variant), which has been eliminated from the United States since 2007.

The Federal Register Notice titled, “Notice of Temporary Suspension of Dogs Entering the United States from Egypt”, will temporarily suspend the importation of dogs from Egypt, or dogs originating in Egypt that are imported from third-party countries, if the dogs have lived in those countries for less than six months.

Dogs from Egypt may be imported only with CDC’s advance written approval, including dogs imported from a third-party country if they lived in the other country for less than 6 months. Such approvals may be granted on a limited, case-by-case basis, and at the discretion of the Director of the CDC Division of Global Migration and Quarantine.

CDC will maintain this suspension until appropriate veterinary safeguards to prevent the importation of rabid dogs from Egypt have been established.

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