Slaughterhouses processing ruminants from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, or Romania must take extra measures to prevent the spread of Echinococcosis. Echinococcosis is a disease caused by a small tapeworm. This parasite can also make humans ill.
Risk countries
The Czech Republic has been added to the list of risk countries for Echinococcosis. Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania have long been on this list. We communicated this change in early September 2025 with the industry associations COV/VSV and KNS/VZS. From November 1, 2025, the existing procedure also applies to ruminants originating from the Czech Republic.
What measures should you take?
If ruminants from a risk country are slaughtered at your slaughterhouse, you must take extra measures for organs of:
- cattle older than 8 months
- sheep and goats older than 12 months
This applies to all organs of the chest and abdominal cavity, including the heart and thymus, and brains of calves older than 8 months.
- If no symptoms of Echinococcosis are macroscopically visible in the organs, a cold treatment of at least 2 days is required, with a core temperature not exceeding -20⁰ C. After this, the organs can be declared fit for human consumption or disposed of as animal by-product category 3.
- If macroscopically visible lesions of Echinococcosis are present in the organs, all organs are declared unfit for human consumption and must be disposed of as animal by-product category 2 (but not for feeding zoo animals), or category 1. The muscle meat and carcass can still be declared fit for human consumption.
Guidance form
A guidance form is available for organs frozen at another location due to the risk of Echinococcosis, for example in a cold storage and freezing facility. You can find this guidance form with number PV 170104 in E-CertNL.
Additional conditions
Additional conditions also apply to slaughterhouses for processing, shipping, and handling the organs. These conditions correspond to the processing of carcasses with cysticercosis (fin). Without cold treatment, nothing can be designated as animal by-product category 3. For example, you must also establish and implement a protocol for Echinococcosis.
Questions
Your NVWA company administrator can assist you with questions about this topic and provide explanations regarding the additional conditions applicable to your slaughterhouse.