Nationwide identification system to be used for disease, contamination control
Investigators spent an average of 199 days tracing the sources of animals infected with bovine tuberculosis between October 2005 and August 2007, according to information from the Department of Agriculture.
Export sanctions connected with a Newcastle disease outbreak in 2002 and 2003 cost nearly $1 million weekly in lost income, department information states.
Dr. John Clifford, deputy administrator of Veterinary Services for the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the National Animal Identification System could eventually allow inspectors to trace the origin and movements of diseased food animals within 48 hours.
“With a disease such as foot-and-mouth disease, the advantage of having 48-hour traceability is the ability to not only find it but to get out in front of it,” Dr. Clifford said.
Dr. W. Ron DeHaven, AVMA CEO and previously the administrator of the USDA-APHIS, said the NAIS can reduce the number of animals affected by a highly contagious disease and thereby not only minimize economic losses but also minimize the pain and suffering of animals.
“We can’t afford to wait until we have a major outbreak to have a system in place,” Dr. DeHaven said.
Seeking veterinarians’ aid
USDA officials have been asking veterinarians to help persuade farmers and ranchers of the need to register their premises with the NAIS. The department has published online an eletronic tool kit containing information veterinarians could use in registering their own facilities or persuading producers to do the same.
By December 2008, about 492,000 or a third of the nation’s food animal production facilities were registered with the national system.
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