Animal Producers’ Registration Program Needs Direction
By Kevin Welch, Amarillo Globe-News, Texas
Apr. 30–From cattle feedlots to chicken coops, Texas animal producers are registering their place of business in Austin, but the program to track diseased animals is going nowhere.
The current registration is voluntary while state regulators and producers are waiting for the United States Agriculture Department to come out with firm timelines to complete the formation of the tracking system.
“We’re hoping for some good direction. There are no set-in-stone timelines,” said Kenny Edgar, Texas Animal Health Commission animal identification coordinator.
The program came about in response to a confirmed case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly called mad-cow disease, in the U.S. in December 2003. It is intended to allow the government to track the origins of diseased animals within 48 hours of diagnosis.
On Friday, the USDA released the findings of two studies that found the most likely number of BSE cases in the U.S. is between four and seven animals. That would make the prevalence of the disease less than one case per million adult cattle, based on an adult cattle population in this country of 42 million animals.
The long-term goal of the national identification program is to provide animal health officials the capability to identify all livestock and premises that have had direct contact with a disease within 48 hours after discovery, according to the USDA Web site. Many dangerous diseases, not just BSE, and all types of animals, from llamas to bison, cattle, poultry, sheep and swine, not just cattle, will be covered. The hope is that early detection and tracking of diseases could limit the scope and expense of an outbreak.
Federal officials are letting states determine the exact way their producers will register.
So far, thousands of producers are responding with the TDA’s request for premises registration, sending in about 200 to 300 registration forms each week.
“People are going ahead. They call and say they heard they have to, but we tell them it’s voluntary,” said Carla Everett, spokeswoman for TAHC. “There have been 11,885 register so far, and it keeps going up. We estimate there are about 200,000 premises in the state.”
The USDA reported Wednesday that about 245,000 producers had registered nationwide.
The TAHC is continuing an outreach effort to recruit producers to join the program.
“One or two people with concerns is typical at meetings,” Edgar said. “Quite a few people have concerns about privacy and intrusion from the government.”
The state has formed groups of people from different livestock industries to decide on the best ways to identify individual animals.
“They’re not going to make recommendations that are detrimental to that species group,” Edgar said. “Horses will probably be microchipped, but that’s nothing new. But we’re not going to microchip chickens and goats. Animal identification is so far away. There are so many things that have to be determined, and an infrastructure has to be developed and tested. The USDA has projected January 2009.”
PREMISES REGISTRATION:
To download a form, go to www.tahc.state.tx.us or call 1-800-550-8242
To send a completed form by mail: Texas Animal Health Commission, Attn: NAIS Program, P.O. Box 12966, Austin, TX 78711-2966
By fax: Call 512-719-0730
By e-mail: TXPRS@tahc.state.tx.us
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