The rabies titer test, explained: who asks for it, when to draw blood, how long you wait
A rabies antibody titer test is a blood test that shows a rabies vaccination has worked. Whether a dog or a cat needs one depends on where it is coming from and where it is going, and each destination runs its own clock. Some count the wait to the day you travel or arrive, the EU counts it to the day a certificate is issued, and Australia starts counting only when the sample reaches the laboratory.
TimingPUBLISHED
| Destination | Pets arriving from | Timing of the blood test |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Pets arriving fromGroup 3Dogs only | Timing of the blood testAt least 3 weeks after the rabies vaccinationAt least 180 days and at most 365 days before departureWaiting period: at least 180 days after the lab receives the sample |
| Australia | Pets arriving fromGroup 3Cats only | Timing of the blood testAt least 180 days and at most 365 days before departureWaiting period: at least 180 days after the lab receives the sample |
| European Union | Pets arriving fromOther third countriesEvery country not on the destination’s other lists | Timing of the blood testAt least 30 days after the rabies vaccinationAt least 90 days before the certificate is issued |
| Great Britain | Pets arriving fromNot listedEvery country not on the destination’s other lists | Timing of the blood testAt least 30 days after the rabies vaccinationAt least 3 months before departure |
| Hawaii | Pets arriving fromEvery country5 Day Or Less / Direct Airport Release | Timing of the blood testAt least 30 days before arrivalAt most 36 months before arrival |
| Japan | Pets arriving fromNon designated regionsEvery country not on the destination’s other listsAny other country or region | Timing of the blood testOn or after the second rabies vaccinationAt most 2 years before arrivalWaiting period: at least 180 days after the blood sample |
| New Zealand | Pets arriving fromCategory 2An alternative: the rule offers another way | Timing of the blood testAt least 3 months and at most 12 months before departure |
| New Zealand | Pets arriving fromCategory 3 | Timing of the blood testAt least 3 months and at most 12 months before departure |
| Singapore | Pets arriving fromSchedule 3Every country not on the destination’s other lists | Timing of the blood testAt least 28 days after the rabies vaccinationAt least 90 days before departureAt most 12 months before departure |
| South Korea | Pets arriving fromNot rabies freeEvery country not on the destination’s other listsOnly if pet is 90 days old or older on arrival | Timing of the blood testAt most 24 months before arrival |
| Switzerland | Pets arriving fromRabies riskEvery country not on the destination’s other lists | Timing of the blood testAt least 30 days after the rabies vaccinationAt least 3 months before arrival |
| United States | Pets arriving fromCDC high riskDog vaccinated against rabies outside the U.S. (or a U.S.-vaccinated dog without a valid Certification of U.S.-issued Rabies Vaccination)Dogs onlyAn alternative: the rule offers another way | Timing of the blood testAt least 30 days after the first rabies vaccinationAt least 28 days before arrival |
How to read the table
Each row is one rule of a destination entry.pet covers: the group of countries it applies to, and every time limit it sets on the test. The groups follow the destination’s own lists. Where the destination’s name links to its guide, the guide shows which countries are on which list. In several rows the group is every country the destination has not put on one of its other lists.
The table is not a full list of who asks for the test, and a destination or a group that is missing from it is not thereby free of it. The checklist for your own route says whether the test is on it: Thailand to Japan with a cat, for one, or Germany to Australia with a dog.
Where a row is marked as an alternative, the test is one of the ways the rule offers and not the only one.
What the test is
The test is a blood test for rabies antibodies. A sample goes from the vet to a laboratory, and the result comes back as a number. Great Britain’s guidance covers both steps:
“[…] 2. Your vet must send the blood sample to an EU-approved blood testing laboratory from either inside the EU or outside the EU. 3. The results of the blood test must show that the vaccination was successful (rabies antibody level of at least 0.5 IU/ml). […]”
The EU’s regulation asks for the same level and names the method. The test has to
“[…] measure a titre of neutralising antibody to rabies virus equal to or greater than 0,5 IU/ml and using a method prescribed in the relevant part of the chapter concerning rabies in the Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH);”
The rules also say which laboratories count. Great Britain, above, wants an EU-approved one. Singapore’s conditions for the countries under its third schedule accept two kinds:
“[…] The rabies serology test must be conducted at either a WOAH Reference Laboratory for rabies or at a laboratory in a Schedule I or II country approved by the respective Competent Authority of the Schedule I or II country.”
Japan accepts only designated laboratories, as its own wording in the next section shows.
When the blood may be drawn
Where a rule sets a gap between the rabies vaccination and the blood sample, the table gives it as the line counted from the vaccination. Two rules are worth reading in full.
Japan asks for two vaccinations before the test and allows the blood to be drawn on the day of the second:
“Rabies antibody test must be performed at one of the designated laboratories. A blood sample for the test must be drawn after the second rabies vaccination. Please also check the animal's microchip number. (The second rabies vaccination and blood sampling can be performed on the same day.) […]”
For dogs entering the United States in the case the table describes, the CDC puts both ends of the timing in one sentence:
“A veterinarian must draw the blood sample at least 30 days after the dog’s first valid rabies vaccination and at least 28 days before entry to the United States.”
The table gives each gap in its shortest form. A rule may count it from a first vaccination only, as the American one does, and the checklist for your route carries the rule’s own wording.
What the wait is counted to
The rules do not count alike. The differences sit at the two ends of the count: the day it starts and the day it runs to.
The EU counts back from the day the health certificate is issued. Our article on the EU’s pet travel law walks through that count.
Great Britain counts to the day you travel:
“[…] You must wait 3 months from the date the blood sample was taken before you travel.”
Switzerland counts to the day of entry. The application form of its veterinary office for pets from a rabies-risk country says the animals have to
“enter 3 months at the earliest after the blood sampling. This applies to the first entry and for animals that were vaccinated and/or tested in a third country”
Japan also counts to arrival, with a longer wait, and says which day is day zero:
“Dogs and cats are required to arrive in Japan after 180 days have passed from the date of blood sampling for the rabies antibody test. In addition, the arrival date in Japan must be within ‘the expiry period of the rabies vaccine administered’ and ‘the validity period of the rabies antibody test (2 years from the date of blood sampling)’. (The date of blood sampling is counted as day 0).”
Australia moves the start of the count. Its wait runs not from the day the blood is drawn but from the day the sample reaches the laboratory, and it runs to the day of export. RNATT is the department’s abbreviation for the test. From its guide for dogs:
“Your dog cannot be exported to Australia for at least 180 days after the RNATT sample arrives at the laboratory. There are no exceptions to this mandatory 180-day waiting period. This is a residency period. It is not a quarantine period.”
Hawaii starts a day later still and counts to arrival. The four abbreviations are the laboratories its checklist accepts:
“The day after AU, KSU, MU or DOD received your pet’s blood sample must not be more than 36 months and not less than 30 days before the date of arrival in Hawaii.”
How long a result lasts
Two patterns show in the rules quoted here. In the first, a passed test stays good for as long as the rabies vaccinations are kept up to date. Great Britain’s guidance:
“The blood test will continue to be valid as long as your pet’s rabies vaccinations are kept up to date.”
In the second, the result has a fixed life. Japan’s passage above gives the test a validity period, counted from the date of blood sampling, and wants the arrival inside it. The upper limits in the table, the lines with “at most”, are of the same kind: counted back from the day they name, the test may not be older than that.
Tested before leaving: where the wait is dropped
Several sets of rules drop the wait for a pet that was tested before it left for the country it now comes back from. For the EU, the same article quotes the rule for pets that live in the Union.
Great Britain does not ask for the wait when the vaccination, the test and the document all date from before the trip and were done in the EU:
“You do not need to wait 3 months if your pet was vaccinated, blood tested and given a pet passport or Great Britain health certificate in the EU before travelling to a country that is not listed.”
Switzerland’s ordinance drops its wait for a pet whose passport shows the earlier test:
“Die Frist von drei Monaten gilt nicht im Fall der Wiedereinfuhr eines Tiers, aus dessen Heimtierpass hervorgeht, dass die Titrierung mit positivem Ergebnis durchgeführt worden ist, bevor dieses Tier das Einfuhrgebiet, einen EU-Mitgliedstaat, Island oder Norwegen oder Nordirland verlassen hat.”
Unofficial translation of the passage: The three-month period does not apply to the re-import of an animal whose pet passport shows that the titration was carried out with a positive result before the animal left the import area, an EU Member State, Iceland or Norway or Northern Ireland.
Japan’s quarantine service describes the arrangement for a pet that leaves Japan and comes back after a short stay abroad:
“日本から海外（指定地域以外の地域）に出国して日本に再入国する場合であって、海外での滞在期間が短期間の場合、日本出発前に、マイクロチップによる個体識別、複数回の狂犬病予防注射、採血及び狂犬病に対する抗体価の確認を行い、さらに海外で必要に応じ追加の予防注射などを行うことにより、海外において180日間の輸出待機をする必要なく、日本帰国時の係留期間を12時間以内とすることができます。”
Unofficial translation of the passage: When leaving Japan for abroad (a non-designated region) and re-entering Japan after a short stay abroad, by carrying out identification with a microchip, several rabies vaccinations, blood sampling and confirmation of the rabies antibody titer before leaving Japan, and additional vaccinations abroad as needed, the pet does not need a 180-day export wait abroad and the detention period on return to Japan can be kept within 12 hours.
The other side of the rule is in the Swiss form quoted earlier: its wait applies to animals “vaccinated and/or tested in a third country”.
Planning around the test
For an adult pet starting from nothing, our checklist puts the whole preparation for Thailand to Japan with a cat at about 30 weeks, and for Thailand to Germany at about 18 weeks.
- Open the checklist for your own pair of countries: it lists the test with the rule’s own timing. The date check says whether a flight date leaves enough time.
- Read the destination’s guide for everything around the test: Japan, Australia, Great Britain, Switzerland.
Confirm with the official authority of the country you are travelling to and with your airline before travelling.
Official texts quoted
- Bringing your pet dog, cat or ferret to Great Britain (printable guide) (opens official site)Defra / APHA (GOV.UK) · checked
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/692, Annex XXI (opens official site)European Commission (EUR-Lex) · checked
- Veterinary Conditions for the Importation of Dogs/Cats for Countries/Regions under Schedule III (DOGCAT 83-3) (opens official site)National Parks Board — Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS) · checked
- Import dogs and cats into Japan (from non-designated regions) (opens official site)Animal Quarantine Service, MAFF · checked
- Entry Requirements for Foreign-Vaccinated Dogs from High-Risk Countries (opens official site)U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) · checked
- Application form for the entry or re-entry with a dog, cat or ferret from a rabies risk country (EDAV-Ht Art. 14(4)) (opens official site)FSVO · checked
- How to bring your dog to Australia from a Group 3 country (opens official site)Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) · checked
- Checklist 1 for Direct Airport Release (DAR) & 5 Day Or Less Program (opens official site)Hawaii Department of Agriculture (now Agriculture and Biosecurity), Animal Quarantine Station · checked
- Verordnung über die Ein-, Durch- und Ausfuhr von Heimtieren (EDAV-Ht), SR 916.443.14 (opens official site)Swiss Federal Council (Fedlex) · checked
- 犬、猫の旅行・短期滞在編 (dogs and cats (opens official site)Animal Quarantine Service, MAFF · checked
Each date is the last day the quoted words were confirmed on the official page. How we verify