Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) Quarantine
provisions.
(1)Poultry and/or premises shall
be placed under quarantine when evidence of infection or possible exposure to
any contagious and/or communicable disease not considered to be endemic exists
in the State of Texas. A quarantine shall remain in effect until
epidemiological evidence of the existing disease or exposure thereto is
satisfied. After due consideration of epidemiological evidence, the executive
director of the commission may cause the quarantine to be released.
(2) When Laryngotracheitis infection is
confirmed in any house on a farm, the entire farm will be placed under
quarantine, and all poultry on that farm will be considered infected and no
molting will be allowed until after the quarantine has been released. Official
quarantine signs will be posted in a prominent place at the entrance to the
premise and on the doors of each house. The doors should be locked when the
house is unattended.
(3) Premises
may be released from a Laryngotracheitis quarantine when:
(A) the farm has been depopulated and
established cleaning and disinfection procedures have been applied;
(B) all infected poultry have been removed
and all replacement poultry have been vaccinated twice with cell culture
vaccine, no chick embryo origin vaccine has been used, and a surveillance
system as established by the commission is carried out with no evidence of
active infection; or
(C) all dead
poultry and caked litter are removed; the houses are sprayed with disinfectant
and closed for 15 to 30 days; and two consecutive sets of nonvaccinated poultry
are raised in the houses with no evidence of infection based on commission
surveillance.
(4) When
fowl typhoid (S. gallinarum) infection is confirmed in a flock, the farm on
which the flock is located shall be placed under quarantine and the flock
depopulated. Following depopulation and burial or incineration of all poultry,
nest material, and litter, the premise and facilities shall be cleaned and
disinfected. The premise shall remain quarantined for at least 180 days
following depopulation during which time poultry shall not be reintroduced to
the premises. Following removal of the quarantine, repopulation of the premises
may be allowed with poultry that have been tested negative to fowl
typhoid.
(b) Public
exhibitions. Poultry entered in public exhibition shall originate from flocks
or hatcheries free of pullorum disease and fowl typhoid or have a negative
pullorum-typhoid test within 30 days before exhibition. Chickens or turkeys
entered in public exhibition shall be accompanied by a certificate of
source.
(c) Public sales. Poultry
offered for public sale or trade at markets such as trade days, flea markets,
auctions, or any other public sale shall originate from pullorum-typhoid clean
flocks or hatcheries. The seller shall furnish proof of the source of poultry
or hatching eggs offered for public sale. The owner or management of any market
or public sale shall prevent the sale, trade, or offer for sale of any poultry
that is not properly qualified under the Texas Pullorum-Typhoid Program as
prescribed by the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) and/or
the National Poultry Improvement Plan. Failure to enforce this requirement may
result in the seeking of a court order prohibiting any further sale of poultry
on the grounds. Poultry from states other than Texas shall be accompanied by a
health certificate from the state of origin, including a negative
pullorum-typhoid test within 30 days of the sale as described in subsection
(e)(1) of this section. Poultry not properly identified and qualified as
pullorum-typhoid clean are prohibited from sale and shall be returned to the
owner's or dealer's premises.
(d)
Surveillance. The commission may pick up dead poultry at farms to determine if
Laryngotracheitis or any other disease is present in any area.
(e) Interstate Movement.
(1) Poultry shipped into the State of Texas
shall be accompanied by an official health certificate issued by an accredited
veterinarian within 30 days prior to shipment. The health certificate shall
state that the poultry have been inspected and are free of evidence of
infectious or contagious disease; that the poultry have been vaccinated only
with approved vaccines as defined in this regulation; and that the poultry have
not originated from an area that has had active Laryngotracheitis or chicken
embryo origin Laryngotracheitis vaccine virus within the last 30 days. The
certificate shall also state the poultry have passed a negative test for
pullorum-typhoid within 30 days prior to shipment or that they originate from
flocks which have met the pullorum-typhoid requirements of the Texas
Pullorum-Typhoid Program and/or the National Poultry Improvement Plan. Baby
poultry will be exempt from this section if from an NPIP, or equivalent,
hatchery, and accompanied by NPIP Form 9-3, or APHIS Form 17-6; or, are covered
by an approved "Commuter Poultry Flock Agreement" on file with the state of
origin and the commission.
(2) An
official health certificate is not required on poultry consigned to slaughter
establishments, which maintain federal postmortem inspection, provided the
shipment is accompanied by a waybill indicating the plant of
destination.
(3) Live poultry,
unprocessed poultry, hatching eggs, unprocessed eggs, egg flats, poultry coops,
cages, crates, other birds, and used poultry equipment affected with, or
recently exposed to, infectious, contagious, or communicable disease, or
originating in state or federal quarantined areas shall not enter Texas without
express written consent from the commission.
(f) Depopulation and disposition of poultry
and eggs. The commission shall depopulate or dispose of poultry and/or hatching
eggs that pose a threat to the poultry industry of the State of Texas after a
hearing before the commission pursuant to the Administrative Procedure
Act.
(g) Dead poultry disposal.
Dead poultry are to be disposed of by incinerating, burying in disposal pits,
or hauling to a rendering plant in closed containers.
(h) Cleaning and disinfecting.
(1) Premises found to have housed, incubated,
brooded, or ranged an infected flock shall be cleaned and disinfected under the
supervision of the commission within 15 days following depopulation, unless an
extension of time is granted. Infected premises shall not be restocked with
poultry or eggs for hatching purposes until the cleaning and disinfecting
requirement of this subsection is certified complete by the commission. The
following cleaning and disinfection procedures are approved for
Laryngotracheitis :
(A) completely clean
house, spray with disinfectant, and close for 15-30 days; or
(B) remove all dead poultry and caked litter,
spray with disinfectant, and close for 15-30 days.
(2) Trucks, loading equipment, cages, or
coops used in hauling poultry vaccinated with restricted vaccines or infected
with a reportable disease within a designated area or from a designated area
shall be cleaned and disinfected prior to entering premises on which the
disease has not been diagnosed and the vaccine has not been used or as directed
by the commission.
(i)
Designated area for Laryngotracheitis . The following procedures shall apply to
all poultry operations:
(1) Replacement
poultry. All poultry housed in the designated area will be vaccinated twice (no
earlier than four weeks of age and again at least four weeks later) with cell
culture (eye drop) modified vaccine before being housed for egg production. A
certificate of vaccination must be on file with the owner, farm manager, and
the commission. Prior entry permit and health certificate with vaccination
history are required for poultry originating out-of-state. These poultry may
receive the second vaccination upon arrival at farm, but the first vaccination
must be no earlier than four weeks of age.
(2) Molted hens.
(A) Any hen molted and retained for egg
production must be vaccinated with cell culture vaccine after
molting.
(B) The hens on known
infected premises may be allowed to complete the laying cycle but shall not be
molted. Empty houses shall be repopulated only with pullets that have been
vaccinated twice with cell culture vaccine at the proper age.
(3) Broilers may be vaccinated
with chick embryo vaccine under the following conditions.
(A) No vaccination except by agreement with
the commission.
(B) Agreements
signed under the following conditions:
(i)
broilers less than five weeks of age located within a designated
area;
(ii) the next two flocks
following an infected flock if epidemiologically sound;
(iii) chick embryo vaccine can be used in
layers or breeders only to stop an outbreak and only by agreement with the
commission.
(4) Movement.
(A) Permits are required for movement of all
non infected flocks between farms in the designated area. Poultry may move from
a designated area only to slaughter and only under permit.
(B) Infected flocks and chick embryo origin
vaccinated flocks can be moved only to slaughter under permit.
(5) Trucks.
(A) Cleaning and disinfection is required for
all trucks hauling infected flocks and chick embryo origin vaccinated
flocks.
(B) Farms with poultry
infected with Laryngotracheitis or vaccinated with chick embryo origin vaccine
are to be serviced the last trip of the day. The driver should not enter the
poultry house. The driver must wear rubber boots and disinfect them before
leaving the farm. All vehicles should be disinfected after entering an infected
premise.
(6) Personnel.
(A) Employees from infected or chick embryo
origin vaccinated farms are not to enter houses on non infected or non chick
embryo origin vaccinated farms.
(B)
When entering infected houses, managers must wear protective clothing and
change before entering non infected houses.
(C) Catching crews must follow cleaning and
disinfection procedures before entering and leaving all infected or chick
embryo origin vaccinated premises.
(7) Equipment.
(A) Egg flats from infected or chick embryo
origin vaccinated premises are to be returned to infected houses or disposed of
or disinfected.
(B) Equipment from
infected or chick embryo origin vaccinated farms cannot be moved to other farms
without cleaning and disinfection.
(8) Dead poultry disposal must be according
to regulations.
