Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 9, September, 2024
I. DEFINITIONS. As used in this rule:
"Affected area" means an area determined by the Arkansas
Department of Agriculture of approximately 25 miles surrounding a flock with a
confirmed case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
"Bird" or "birds" means any of a class (Aves) of warm-blooded
vertebrates distinguished by having the body more or less completely covered
with feathers and the forelimbs modified as wings.
"Bird Dealer" means any person engaged in the business of
dealing in, purchasing, breeding or offering for sale (whether at wholesale or
retail) any exotic or pet birds.
"Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation,
estate, trust, fiduciary, or other group or combination acting as a
unit.
"Exotic disease" means any foreign animal disease listed by the
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) or the World Organization for Animal Health
(WOAH).
"Untreatable disease" means a disease that does not respond to
accepted medical chemotherapy or one whose treatment is uneconomical.
"Pet Bird" means a bird kept or intended for sale as a
companion bird, not including domestic poultry.
"Premise" means land and buildings together considered as a
property where animals are kept.
"Exotic Bird" means a bird not native or indigenous to the
United States which is also not domestic poultry.
"Domestic Poultry" means poultry propagated and maintained
under the control of a Person that have been selectively bred for meat, eggs,
or exhibition purposes.
"Hatchery" means hatchery equipment on one premise operated or
controlled by any person for the production of baby poultry.
"Swap meets or flea markets" means those places either so named
or a place where there is a gathering of people to exchange goods and/or
services whether it be for barter, sale, or loan.
"Inspector" means a person who is a designated and trained
employee of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture.
"Domestic Waterfowl" means ducks and geese that have been
selectively bred for meat, eggs, or exhibition purposes.
"Exhibit" means gathering or commingling for purposes of show,
public display, or competition.
"Poultry Industry" means entities involved in the production of
poultry and waterfowl, of any species, for the purpose of trade in meat and/or
eggs.
"Poultry" means chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, pigeons,
ostrich, emus, pheasants, or other birds raised commercially or domestically
for meat, eggs, and feathers.
II. CONDEMNING A DISEASED POULTRY FLOCK
A. Reportable diseases.
1. Scope. As used in this section,
"reportable disease" means: Exotic diseases as listed by APHIS or WOAH;
Ornithosis;
Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG);
Mycoplasma Synoviae (MS);
Mycoplasma Meleagridis in turkeys (MM);
Infectious Laryngotracheitis (ILT);
Salmonella Pullorum;
Salmonella Typhimurium;
Pullorum Typhoid (PT);
Velogenic Newcastle Disease; and
Avian Influenza (AI) (for additional requirements regarding AI,
see section
IV).
2. Mandatory reporting.
Any person having knowledge that a poultry flock is infected
with a reportable disease must immediately report such information to the State
Veterinarian.
3. Quarantine
order.
The State Veterinarian, after consultation with the Arkansas
Department of Agriculture Livestock and Poultry Division Director, may
quarantine any bird he suspects to be infected with a reportable
disease.
4. Confirmation and
identification of the disease.
The State Veterinarian may direct that employees of the
department conduct further tests of the suspect flock to identify and/or
confirm the existence of a reportable disease. The National Veterinary Services
Laboratory results will provide the confirmation necessary for the provisions
of this rule to be carried out.
5. Order for disposition.
(a) Upon confirmation that a poultry flock is
infected with a reportable disease, the State Veterinarian, after consultation
with the Division Director, will enter into an administrative agreement with
the owner(s) to do one of the following:
(1)
Develop a flock plan under the direction of an accredited veterinarian which
includes, at a minimum:
(A) Quarantine and
treat flock until disease is cleared;
(B) Implementation of biosecurity protocols
according to USDA Defend the Flock program;
(C) Acquisition of NPIP certification through
the department;
(D) Testing of
flock in accordance with NPIP; and
(E) Maintaining records of any treatments or
actions taken under the care of an accredited veterinarian. If treatment is
unsuccessful or disease is chronic, all birds will remain in quarantine for the
remaining life of the flock;
(2) Quarantine all birds on the affected
premises for the life of the flock; any new birds introduced to the premises
shall also be under quarantine; or
(3) Depopulate all birds on the
premises.
(b) In cases of
PT, AI, or Newcastle Disease, depopulation is the only option as long as
indemnity is available through USDA.
6. Method of depopulation.
The poultry flock shall be disposed of as provided for in the
Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission's Disposal of Large Animal and
Poultry Carcasses rule. Agents or employees of the department may assist,
direct, or administer the destruction of the flock.
7. Proper cleaning and disinfecting -
Rodenticides and insecticides.
The producer shall clean, disinfect, and use rodenticides and
insecticides in compliance with USDA current polices and standards.
8. Repopulation of house.
A depopulated house will lay vacant after cleaning and
disinfecting and after the use of rodenticide and insecticides for the length
of time required by APHIS or the State Veterinarian. Source of birds may be
approved by the State Veterinarian.
III. PET BIRDS, SWAP MEETS, FLEA MARKETS,
EXHIBITIONS, AND HATCHERIES
The National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) will be followed
where applicable in this section.
A.
Pet birds.
1. Registration.
(a) Any person desiring to operate as a bird
dealer must register with the Arkansas Department of Agriculture.
(b) Registration shall be on an annual basis.
All registrations shall be issued for a period of one (1) year beginning April
1, and expiring March 31 of the following year.
(c) The registration must be in the name used
for all business transactions involving exotic and pet birds. Any change in the
name of the registrant shall be promptly reported to the department in writing.
Only one registration shall be allowed per premise.
(d) A separate registration is required for
each business location and proof of registration must be displayed in a
conspicuous location.
(e) Any
corporation, partnership, or estate must declare at the time of registration
and list such officers or owners on the registration form.
2. Records - Pet birds.
(a) Each bird dealer is required to keep
records which adequately:
(1) Identify each
exotic or pet bird in his possession or sold by him by species, description, or
by leg band number. U. S. and non-U. S. birds will be identified with leg
band.
(2) Verify the name, address,
and telephone number of the person from whom each is acquired. If that person
is a bird dealer, then the dealer's registration number shall also be recorded.
If that person is not a bird dealer, then their driver's license number, social
security number, or federal tax identification number shall be
recorded.
(3) Verify the name,
address, and telephone number of the person to whom each bird is transferred.
If that person is a bird dealer, then the dealer's registration number shall
also be recorded. If that person is not a bird dealer, then their driver's
license number, social security number, or federal tax identification number
shall be recorded.
(4) Identify any
bird which the bird dealer knows to be or to have been sick, diseased, or to
have died.
(b) Periodic
reports may be required of any or all of the required record. All required
records shall be made available for inspection by department employees during
business operating hours. Additional records may be required if deemed
necessary by the department.
(c)
All records required to be kept by the Act or these rules shall be kept for at
least one year from the time of receipt or sale of exotic and pet
birds.
(d) Failure to keep required
records or to make such records available to department employees shall be
grounds for quarantining or administrative penalty, or both.
(e) Birds unaccounted for by records will
result in quarantine of all birds on premise until proper records are presented
or birds are tested as indicated for diseases of concern.
3. Quarantine, seizure, and destruction of
pet birds.
(a) The department or its designees
may issue quarantine and may seize and destroy any birds which, in the opinion
of the department, present a hazard of carrying exotic or untreatable diseases,
or any disease posing hazard to birds.
(b) Birds quarantined by the department will
be maintained at the bird dealer's or the owner's expense.
(c) The quarantine includes but is not
limited to all birds on the premise.
4. Interstate shipment of pet birds.
(a) Each shipment of exotic and pet birds
shipped into Arkansas requires a prior permit number obtained from the
department website.
(b) All pet or
exotic birds entering Arkansas for exhibition purposes must meet the
requirements for interstate shipment.
(c) All exotic bird show or sale coordinators
must give fourteen (14) days' notice of an event to the department.
5. Illegal importation of pet
birds.
(a) Any pet bird imported into Arkansas
coming directly or indirectly from outside the United States shall be
designated as illegal unless the bird was brought into the United States in
conformity with the quarantine regulations of the USDA and requirements of the
State of Arkansas.
(b) The State
Veterinarian, in consultation with the Arkansas Department of Agriculture
Livestock and Poultry Division Director, may quarantine, seize, and destroy any
birds imported illegally into this state and any birds exposed to an illegal
bird.
B. Swap
meets, flea markets, and exhibition of birds.
1. Birds showing any signs of illness will be
quarantined back to the farm, place of origin, or as directed by the
department.
2. All birds will be
tested for pullorum-typhoid (PT) and Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG) and
Mycoplasma Synoviae (MS) unless papers accompany them showing that they came
from clean stock or have been tested within 90 days of the movement to the
event area and must be accompanied by NPIP form Veterinary Services 9-3 (VS
9-3).
3. The event coordinator will
be responsible for providing a certified NPIP blood tester for the event and
upon request by a representative of the department, provide records of all
entries, to include but not limited to:
(a)
Name;
(b) Address;
(c) Contact information; and
(d) Where they are located at the
event.
4. Reactor birds
are subject to NPIP national guidelines that include:
(a) Birds will be sent to the Arkansas State
Diagnostic Laboratory in Little Rock.
(b) Birds will be autopsied with appropriate
organs or tissues, or both, being cultured.
(c) At the time birds become positive, farm
or place of origin becomes quarantined.
5. Quarantine may be released when:
(a) Negative test results are
provided;
(b) The culture proves
the birds are negative; or
(c) When
depopulation occurs with appropriate cleaning and disinfecting before
restocking, as prescribed by the State Veterinarian.
6. Table eggs, if present, when offered for
sale, must meet USDA and Arkansas Egg Law standards before selling.
7. Exhibition of birds, including fairs, swap
meets, etc. will meet the above requirements.
C. Exhibition of Arkansas poultry.
An official representing the person sponsoring the exhibition
shall notify the State Veterinarian no later than thirty (30) days prior to the
exhibition, giving the names, place, inclusive dates and times of the event.
The requirements for exhibition are as follows:
(a) PT, MG, and MS status.
(1) All poultry except domestic waterfowl
present at exhibition in the state shall have originated from U. S.
Pullorum-Typhoid Clean or equivalent flocks or have had a negative PT test
within ninety (90) days of the movement to the exhibition.
(2) Poultry must also have been tested
negative for MG and MS within 90 days of exhibition. This information will be
documented on an NPIP form VS 9-3 (form 15), NPIP form 3B, or similar
certificate which will accompany the poultry during the exhibition.
(b) Recordkeeping.
(1) The sponsor of the exhibition shall
compile a list of all poultry present at the exhibition which shall contain the
name and address of each owner, the number, species, breed, variety, type, sex,
and PT status of all poultry present.
(2) A copy of this list shall be retained by
the sponsor of the exhibition for at least twelve (12) months.
D. Hatchery inspections
- Includes all commercial hatcheries, game birds, and poultry.
1. Hatchery inspections are required at least
one time per year and hatcheries with prior violations will be identified and
retested as needed.
2. Hatcheries
are required to register with the department annually.
3. All hatcheries selling hatching eggs
either interstate or intrastate or anyone selling chicks must be NPIP
approved.
4. Inspection will be
made by a trained inspector.
5. A
PT positive hatchery will be quarantined immediately. Complete cleaning and
disinfecting will be done as prescribed by the State Veterinarian along with
industry input.
E.
Requirements for entry of poultry into Arkansas.
No poultry infected with or exposed to any infectious or
contagious disease can be imported into the state for any purpose.
(a) All eggs for hatching purposes and all
chicks imported into the state must be accompanied by an official health
certificate or NPIP form VS 9-3 (form 15) indicating that the flock from which
the eggs or chicks originated have been tested for PT, MG, and MS and were free
of reactors to these diseases.
(b)
Any eggs or chicks produced under the supervision of the NPIP will be deemed to
have met with the requirements of this rule; provided all of the requirements
of NPIP are complied with and applicable NPIP forms accompany the shipment or
are furnished in a manner set forth in the NPIP.
(c) Slaughter: Healthy poultry may be shipped
into the state without an official health certificate when shipped direct to an
approved slaughtering establishment.
(d) Diseased birds can be shipped into the
state for slaughter upon approval by the State Veterinarian.
IV. AVIAN INFLUENZA
THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION MAY BE IMPLEMENTED IN THE EVENT
OF AN OUTBREAK OF AVIAN INFLUENZA WHICH IN THE DETERMINATION OF THE ARKANSAS
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE THREATENS PRODUCTION OR SALES OF POULTRY AND POULTRY
PRODUCTS.
A. It is prohibited to:
1. Exhibit poultry and domestic waterfowl
within the affected area;
2. Move
poultry or domestic waterfowl from or within an affected area.
* Poultry with premovement avian influenza testing by
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or antigen capture within five days of event
are exempt from paragraph 2;
3. Sell barter, trade, auction, or give away,
poultry or domestic waterfowl at fairs, swap meets, auctions, flea markets, and
similar events and locations within an affected area.
* Chicks and ducklings three weeks of age or less originating
from a NPIP certified flock are exempt from paragraph 3.
B. All free range and backyard
poultry within an affected area, whether intended for commercial or
noncommercial use, must be confined under cover or inside structures to prevent
contamination from infected migratory birds.
C. Other conditions or requirements imposed
by appropriate federal agencies may also apply.
D. All live poultry, hatching eggs, domestic
waterfowl, waterfowl being transported into Arkansas, psittacines or
passerines, or other birds entering Arkansas must:
1. Be accompanied by:
(a) An official certificate of veterinary
inspection signed by a licensed, accredited veterinarian stating that the
poultry, waterfowl, psittacines, passerines, other avian species, or hens or
parent stock producing the eggs have been examined and found to be free of any
signs of avian influenza H5 or H7, and to the the signatory's knowledge, avian
influenza H5 or H7 has not been diagnosed within a 10-kilometer radius of the
location where this flock originated and they did not originate from within an
avian influenza quarantined area; or
(b) An official certificate of veterinary
inspection signed by a licensed, accredited veterinarian certifying that a
negative agar gel precipitin test or other authorized serological test for
avian influenza was administered no longer than two (2) weeks prior to the time
of the shipment; and
2.
Have a negative pullorum test within the last ninety (90) days or be from an
NPIP certified flock; and
3. Have
an entry permit number.
E. Day-old baby chicks or poults and hatching
eggs will also be allowed to enter Arkansas with an NPIP Form VS 9-3 in lieu of
a certificate of veterinary inspection if item #10 of the NPIP form contains
the following statement: "These birds originate from breeder flocks
located in an area where avian influenza H5 or H7 has not been diagnosed within
a 10-kilometer radius of the location where this flock originated and they did
not originate from within an avian influenza quarantined
area."
F. Poultry being
brought into Arkansas for slaughter are exempt from the above requirement if
they are owned by the company and being transported into the state by
Arkansas-based poultry operations using equipment and vehicles controlled
solely by those operations. If these vehicles are not controlled solely by the
Arkansas company, the poultry will be exempt from a certificate of veterinary
inspection if documentation shows they are owned by the company, but the
vehicle must have been cleaned and disinfected (see paragraph I.,
below).
G.
1. All table eggs, including graded eggs
(cartoned and loose pack), nest-run, etc., along with all eggs to be processed
by breakage must be accompanied by a certificate of origin signed by company
management attesting to the origin of the eggs and a statement that they did
not originate in an area where there is any known avian influenza H5 or H7
infection. Any reusable materials used in the shipping of eggs into this state
must be either new or free of visual debris and contaminates. In the event
contaminated materials are found the entire lot will be disposed of immediately
at the expense of the shipper.
2.
Non-exempt: Eggs direct from grading stations or eggs direct from producer
grading stations, entering Arkansas on trucks owned by them or contracted by
them, making direct deliveries to retail outlets, distributors, other egg
producers or grading stations, breaking plants, etc., must follow the rules as
outlined above.
3. Exempt: Egg
distributors entering Arkansas are exempt from the certificate of origin and
the certificate of cleaning and disinfecting provided they make direct sales to
retail outlets such as stores, restaurants, etc. and eggs must be in new
packaging materials and cannot originate in an area where there is any known
avian influenza infection H5 or H7.
H.
1. All
Vehicles used to transport birds, eggs, or inedible materials that enter the
state must be cleaned and disinfected in such a way that avian influenza virus
will be inactivated.
2. Vehicles
are to be washed to remove all organic debris using a detergent and water rinse
with final application of a disinfectant that is approved for use in the
activation of avian influenza virus.
3. Live poultry and transportation equipment
owned and controlled by poultry operations in Arkansas may be exempted from
these restrictions.
4. Any person
coming from an area known or suspected of having avian influenza must practice
proper biosecurity procedures as prescribed by the company or USDA.
I. The sale, barter, exhibition,
or giving away of all live poultry or domestic waterfowl in any farmer's
market, flea market, roadside stand, feed store, fair, show, etc. outside the
affected area may be allowed if proper biosecurity procedures as prescribed by
the company or USDA are followed and the threat of avian influenza in that area
is minimal.
J. All poultry
identified or suspect of having avian influenza virus infection in the state
will be quarantined immediately and the State Veterinarian notified for final
disposition.
K. All avian influenza
vaccination of any bird is prohibited, unless authorized by the State
Veterinarian after consultation with the Poultry industry.
L. Any ratites entering the state will be
accompanied by a certificate of veterinary inspection with entering the state
will be accompanied by a certificate of veterinary inspection with an entry
permit number stating that: "The ratite(s) have been examined and found
to be free of any signs of avian influenza, and to the best of my knowledge,
avian influenza H5 or H7 has not been diagnosed within a 10-kilometer radius of
the location where the ratites originated and they did not originate from
within an avian influenza quarantined area. Furthermore, these ratites were
diagnosed as being avian influenza negative on the basis of a negative avian
influenza agar gel precipitin test administered no longer than two weeks prior
to shipment."
