Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) The flock owner
or his or her agent shall identify all animals 1 year of age and older within
the flock. All animals less than one year of age shall be identified with an
approved tamper resistant premises identification eartag with individual animal
identification when a change of ownership occurs, with the exception of animals
under 1 year in slaughter channels.
(1)
Infected or QQ animals identified with Red tags
(2) All others identified with White or
Silver Tags.
(b) Upon
request by TAHC or APHIS, the owner of the flock shall allow an accredited
veterinarian or an APHIS or TAHC representative to collect tissues from animals
for scrapie diagnostic purposes and submit them to an APHIS approved
laboratory.
(c) Upon request by a
TAHC or APHIS representative, the owner of the flock shall present animals in
the flock, and the required records, for inspection and testing.
(d) The owner of the flock shall meet TAHC or
APHIS requirements to monitor for scrapie, prevent its recurrence, and prevent
its spread to other flocks. These include, but are not limited to:
(1) Utilization of a live-animal
test;
(2) Restrictions on animals
removed from the flock;
(3)
Segregated lambing;
(4) Cleaning
and disinfection of lambing facilities; and/or,
(5) Education of the flock owner, and
personnel, to recognize clinical signs of scrapie and control its
transmission.
(e) The
flock owner shall immediately report animals exhibiting the following clinical
signs to a TAHC or APHIS representative, or an accredited veterinarian, and
shall not remove such animals from the flock:
(1) weight loss despite retention of an
appetite
(2) pruritis
(itching)
(3) motor abnormalities
such as incoordination
(4) wool
pulling
(5) biting at the legs or
flanks
(6) lip smacking
(7) high stepping gait of forelimbs
(8) bunny hop movement of rear legs
(9) swaying of the back end
(10) increased sensitivity to noise and
sudden movement
(11)
tremor
(12) head pressing
(13) or, animals that have tested positive
for scrapie on a live animal screening test or any other test for
scrapie.
(f) The
following are for flock plans only:
(1) An
epidemiological investigation must be conducted to identify high-risk an
exposed animals that currently reside in the flock or that previously resided
in the flock, and all high-risk animals, scrapie-positive animals and suspect
animals must be removed from the flock. The animals must be removed to an
approved research facility, or by euthanasia and disposal of the carcasses by
burial, incineration, or by other approved methods.
(2) The premises under the flock plan must be
cleaned and disinfected (C & D'd) in accordance with
RSA
54.7.
(3) Premises, or a portion of the premises,
may be exempted from the cleaning and disinfection if the Designated Scrapie
Epidemiologist determines, based on epidemiological investigation that the C
& D of such buildings, holding facilities, conveyances, or other material
on the premises will not significantly reduce the risk of transmission of
scrapie. No facility where a scrapie-positive animal lambed or aborted may be
exempted.
(4) The flock owner shall
request breed associations and registries, livestock markets, and packers to
disclose records to TAHC or APHIS representatives to be used to identify
trace-ins and trace-outs, source flocks and exposed and high-risk
animals.
(5) The flock owner shall
agree to conduct post-exposure management and monitoring.
(g) The following are the requirements for
post-exposure management and monitoring plans only. The plan requires that a
TAHC or APHIS representative inspect the flock and flock records at least every
12 months. The flock owner shall maintain records for 5 years following removal
of the animals from the flock. Recorded shall include:
(1) Any identifying marks or tags present on
the animal, including but not limited to the premises identification number,
individual animal identification number, and any secondary form of
identification the owner may employ;
(2) Sex, year of birth, breed, and (when
possible) the sire, dam, and offspring of the animal;
(3) Date of acquisition and the previous
flock owner and address, if the animal was not born in the flock;
and,
(4) Disposition of the animal,
including the date and cause of death, if known, or date of removal from the
flock and name and address of the person to whom the animal was
transferred.
(h) Flock
plans and post-exposure management and monitoring plans may be modified by the
Designated Scrapie Epidemiologist to accommodate the situation of a particular
flock if the modified plan requires:
(1) A
TAHC or APHIS representative inspect the flock and records at least once every
12 months;
(2) The animals are
tested at a level that will result in a 99% confidence of detecting a
one-percent prevalence in the flock (for flock plans only);
(3) Identification by approved method of all
animals leaving the premises of the flock, for purposes other than slaughter,
and of all animals over 18 months of age (as evidenced by the eruption of the
second incisor) in slaughter channels; and,
(4) Record keeping shall include:
(A) For acquired animals, the date of
acquisition, name and address of the person from whom the animal was acquired,
and all identification.
(B) For
animals leaving the premises of the flock, the disposition of the animal,
including those animals that are required to be identified, any identifying
marks, and all identification, the date and cause of death, if known, or date
of removal from the flock, and name and address of the person to whom the
animal was transferred.
(5) Continued for at least 5 years.
(i) Post-exposure management and
monitoring plans are for exposed flocks that were not source flocks and in
which a scrapie infected animal did not give birth. A Designated Scrapie
Epidemiologist shall determine the testing and monitoring requirements for
these flocks based on the exposure risk of the individual flock.
(j) Waiver of requirements for scrapie
control pilot projects is allowable if approved by the Administrator of APHIS
and the state has a Pilot Project MOU in place.
(k) Minimum Requirements for Pilot Project
Flock Plans:
(1) Restriction of high-risk
animals to the premises for movement to slaughter only;
(2) Necropsy and testing of all animals over
14 months of age that die, particularly high-risk animals;
(3) Third eye-lid testing of all exposed
animals over 14 months of age, or when they reach 14 months of age;
(4) Retest of all test eligible animals 18
months after the last known exposure to scrapie;
(5) Removal of all test-positive
animals;
(6) Restrictions on the
movements of other animals out of the flock except to slaughter unless testing
or other methods have been used to insure that they are low risk for spreading
scrapie; and,
(7) Genotype testing
for use as a selection criteria.
(8) Removal of all QQ animals.
(9) May keep QR and RR animals.
(10) Purchase of RR ram(s).
