The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced a one-year ban on importing dogs from 113 countries over rabies concerns, writes BBC.

The ban applies to all dogs, including emotional support dogs and dogs that have been in any high-risk countries during the past six months.

The announcement comes amid a jump in dog importation, linked to the surge in dog adoptions throughout the pandemic.

Hundreds of these dogs had fraudulent rabies certificates, the CDC said.

“This action is necessary to ensure the health and safety of dogs imported into the US and to protect the public’s health against the reintroduction of canine rabies virus variants”, - the CDC said in a statement.

The suspension applies to a wide range of countries, including Kenya, Egypt, Brazil and Russia.

The US imports about one million dogs each year. Dogs brought into the US from the countries now deemed high-risk account for about 6% of this number.