UPDATE: Import Alert: Foot-and-Mouth Disease Restrictions for Animal Commodities Originating from or Transiting Hungary, Slovakia, and/or Austria 

UPDATE: Import Alert: Foot-and-Mouth Disease Restrictions for Animal Commodities Originating from or Transiting Hungary, Slovakia, and/or Austria 

Issuance Date: July 9, 2026 

 11:05 am, U.S. Eastern 

Effective Restriction Date: 

• February 2, 2025, for Hungary and Slovakia 

Effective Release Date: 

• September 8, 2025, for Austria 

Update Effective June 15, 2026: APHIS is reissuing this import alert to reflect an update to the import requirements for horses. The updated requirements are listed below.  

NOTE: On March 27, 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Veterinary Services (VS) issued an import alert restricting importation of certain animal commodities originating from or transiting Austria due to the detection of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) approximately 4 miles from the Hungary/Austria border. At the time the restrictions were placed, the full extent of the FMD outbreak in Hungary and Slovakia was unknown and the restrictions on Austria were placed as a precautionary measure until additional epidemiological information could be gathered. Austria has not detected FMD. APHIS has determined sufficient control measures and emergency response activities were implemented to ensure maintenance of FMD free status. APHIS is hereby updating the March 27, 2025, import alert to release restrictions on Austria. 

VS continues to restrict the importation of live ruminants, camelids, swine, hedgehogs, tenrecs, and their germplasm originating from or transiting Hungary and/or Slovakia due to the detection of FMD. 

Restrictions 

Live ruminants, camelids, swine, hedgehogs, tenrecs, dogs, horses: 

APHIS prohibits the importation of live ruminants, camelids, swine, hedgehogs, tenrecs, and their germplasm originating from or transiting Hungary and/or Slovakia. 

APHIS will permit the importation of dogs from Hungary and/or Slovakia if their fur and bedding is free of excessive dirt, hay, or straw. The dog should be bathed as soon as it reaches its destination and kept separate from all livestock for five days after entering the United States. 

Horses from Hungary and/or Slovakia, including horses that have contact with horses from Hungary and/or Slovakia at any time within the five (5) days immediately prior to export (including transport and in holding facilities), must complete the established FMD protocol. This includes no direct or indirect contact with domestic or wild ruminants or swine for at least five (5) days before arrival to the United States and decontamination in an APHIS-approved import quarantine facility upon arrival. Horses transiting Hungary and/or Slovakia will only need to complete the FMD protocol upon arrival. Please note that horses that have resided in an FMD-free country for a minimum of five days after residing in Hungary and/or Slovakia do not need to complete the FMD protocol. 

Processed porcine, ruminant, camelid, hedgehog, and tenrec products and by-products (including milk): 

• Milk/milk products must be accompanied by a VS import permit and government certification confirming that the milk/milk products were treated in accordance with APHIS requirements. 

• If arriving as cargo, must be accompanied by VS import permit and/or government certification confirming that the products or by-products were treated in accordance with APHIS requirements. 

• If arriving in passenger baggage, 

• must be shelf stable as a result of APHIS-approved packaging and cooking (for example, packed in hermetically sealed containers and fully cooked by a commercial method after such packing to produce articles that are shelf stable without refrigeration), OR 

• must be accompanied by a VS import permit and/or government certification confirming that the products or by-products were treated in accordance with APHIS requirements. 

Unprocessed porcine, ruminant, camelid, hedgehog, and tenrec products and by-products (including milk): 

• Milk/milk products are prohibited. 

• If arriving as cargo, importation is prohibited with limited exceptions. In some cases, eligible unprocessed porcine, ruminant, and camelid products and by-products can be imported if consigned directly from the port of arrival to an eligible USDA-approved establishment. 

• If arriving in passenger baggage, importation is prohibited, except for trophies that are fully taxidermy finished or consigned directly to an eligible USDA-approved establishment. 

More information 

More information is available on the APHIS website: 

• Specific information about live animal import requirements for all species regulated by APHIS VS can be found on the Bringing Live Animals and Germplasm into the United States From Another Country (Import) website. 

• Specific information about animal product import requirements for commodities regulated by APHIS VS can be found on the Animal Product Imports website. 

• A list of regions APHIS recognizes as affected by foot-and-mouth disease can be found on the USDA APHIS Animal Health Status of Regions website. 

• For additional information about live animal imports regulated by other Agencies, please check with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, and/or USDA APHIS Animal Care to ensure import requirements of those agencies are met, when applicable.