Chinese customs have banned the direct and indirect import of ruminants and related products from Poland and Croatia due to an outbreak of bluetongue disease. This was announced by the General Administration of Customs on its website on Wednesday, as reported by Reuters.

The move came after Poland and Croatia reported cases detected in one Polish province and two Croatian counties to the World Organisation for Animal Health, the Chinese customs administration said in a statement on 9 December.

Croatian news agency Hina had previously reported that bluetongue appeared in the Netherlands in October 2023 and has since spread to Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic.

A new variant of the virus, known as BTV3, is currently spreading in Europe.