Incident Bulletin 7th April, 2025
The Incident Bulletin is sent once a week, when there are major incidents to report affecting postal distribution.
This week's bulletin contains information about Slovakia, Thailand, Rep. of Korea, Botswana, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy.
Slovakia
Report date: 28 March
Incident: Foot-and-mouth disease
The designated operator of Slovakia, Slovenská pošta, wishes to inform that owing to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in livestock in south-west Slovakia, special emergency measures have been implemented in Slovakia with effect from 21 March 2025 and until further notice. Furthermore, an emergency situation has been declared in Slovakia with effect from 25 March 2025.
For premises housing livestock with confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth disease, as well as all premises within the protection zone defined by the Regional Veterinary and Food Administration, the following regime applies until further notice with regard to mail delivery and postal services:
Postal items addressed to affected premises will be held at the appropriate post office. This applies to all incoming mail, including ordinary and registered mail. The items will be held at the post office for the duration of application of the above measures;
The post office/courier will inform the recipient by phone or e-mail that items are being held.
The affected postcode areas are as follows:
Medveďov 930 07
Ňárad 930 06
Baka 930 04
Malá Lúč 930 03
Furthermore, postal items arriving in Slovakia from neighbouring countries may also be subject to delays owing to control measures at border crossings.
Slovenská pošta is taking all necessary measures to minimize inconvenience for customers and restore normal operations in the affected areas as soon as possible.
Rep. of Korea
Report date: 28 March
Incident: Back to normal
The designated operator of the Rep. of Korea, Korea Post, wishes to inform that the delivery delays caused by wildfires were resolved as of 9.00 (local time) on 28 March 2025.
Thailand
Report date: 31 March
Incident: Earthquake
The designated operator of Thailand, Thailand Post, wishes to inform that the 8.2-magnitude earthquake of 28 March 2025, centred in Myanmar, has affected various areas of Bangkok.
The Governor of Bangkok has declared the capital a level 2 disaster zone, effective from 28 March 2025, as the earthquake has caused damage to many high-rise buildings and roads, resulting in road blockages.
As a consequence, delays are to be expected in the delivery of postal items in the affected areas (postcode areas 10xxx).
Botswana
Report date: 1 April
Incident: Temporary service disruption
The designated operator of Botswana, BotswanaPost, wishes to inform that a cybersecurity incident occurred on 29 March 2025, resulting in a temporary service disruption. BotswanaPost’s endpoint detection and response system detected a ransomware attack targeting its server infrastructure. The incident was promptly detected and contained.
Upon discovery, BotswanaPost’s cybersecurity response plan was immediately activated, and the information technology team, in collaboration with experts and relevant authorities, is actively working to contain the breach, assess its impact, and reinforce security measures.
While the investigation is still ongoing, BotswanaPost is confident that the swift actions taken have minimized potential damage. However, as a precautionary measure, postal services will remain suspended and IT services will remain unavailable until BotswanaPost is certain that issue has been fully resolved.
BotswanaPost remains fully committed to safeguarding the integrity of its systems. It is reviewing and reinforcing its cybersecurity protocols, focusing on access controls, threat detection, and employee awareness training.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Report date: 1 April
Incident: Back to normal
The designated operators of Bosnia and Herzegovina, JP BH Pošta Sarajevo, would like to inform that postal operations in all areas affected by the floods have now resumed as normal.
Slovakia
Report date: 1 April
Incident: Update on foot-and-mouth disease
The designated operator of Slovakia, Slovenská pošta, wishes to inform of an additional postcode area affected by the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease and subject to the emergency measures in place since 21 March 2025, as follows:
- Plavecký Štvrtok 900 68
Slovenská pošta continues to take all necessary measures to minimize inconvenience for customers and restore normal operations in the affected areas as soon as possible.
Italy
Report date: 1 April
Incident: Strike at ITMXPA office of exchange
The designated operator of Italy, Poste Italiane, wishes to inform that staff at the Malpensa Lonate Pozzolo (ITMXPA) office of exchange (OE) have been operating on a strictly work-to-rule basis since 27 March 2025.
Although industrial relations have been ongoing, as of 1 April, an unauthorized strike has been called by some unions, involving ITMXPA OE personnel. Currently, the OE is closed by pickets, and the strike is set to last until 2 April at 6.00 local time.
Significant delays in processing inbound and outbound parcels and EMS are to be expected because of the strike and because of the backlog that has been building up since 27 March.