National Traceability Plan in Action

By Sarah Watson, Livestock Editor
Thursday, December 27, 2007 11:55 AM CST

U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has recorded 429,600 premises registered nationwide n with substantial increases this year in the number of premises registered as part of the National Animal Identification System.

This month, Nebraska became the 10th state to register at least 50 percent of its total estimated production agriculture premises under this system. As of Dec. 17, Wisconsin leads the nation with 59,307 premises registered adding up to 115 percent of premises registered.

"Premises registration is absolutely necessary to rapidly and reliably trace and eradicate animal disease," said Bruce Knight, under secretary of USDA's marketing and regulatory programs. "As the number of registered premises continues to grow, it emphasizes the growing support for animal identification, and I applaud these producers for making a choice that is crucial to the health and economic well-being of commercial livestock and poultry industries in the United States."

Other states that have topped the 50 percent mark include Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Utah. West Virginia is approaching the 50 percent mark, having registered 49.8 percent of its estimated 17,670 premises.

Other states, including Delaware, Iowa and Massachusetts, have reached the 40 percent mark and double-digit registration gains have occurred this year in a number of states. Iowa started the year with just over 11,000 premises registered and now that number is over 20,000 - an increase of almost 80 percent. Texas registered more than 6,400 new premises this year, resulting in a 27.7 percent increase.

Working cooperatively with states, tribes and industry partners, the NAIS is a modern streamlined information system that helps producers respond quickly and effectively to animal disease events. It consists of three components: premises registration, animal identification and tracing.

The premises registration component of NAIS ensures the availability of a nationwide communications network to assist livestock owners and animal health officials in the event of an animal disease event. There are an estimated 1.4 million production premises in the United States. To contact a state partner or find out more about NAIS go to http://www.usda.gov/nais.

Business plan

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a draft of a Business Plan for Advancing Animal Disease Traceability. The business plan supports the 48-hour traceback, a long-term goal of the National Animal Identification System, as well as provides benchmarks to guide the program as it moves towards optimum traceability. Animal diseases like tuberculosis, brucellosis or low pathogenic avian influenza are common threats to U.S. livestock and a reality for many producers.

While disease events in this country often have been limited in scope, the threat of a catastrophic animal disease outbreak is real. Because these events are unpredictable, it is in the best interest of producers, the industry and the government to be prepared.

"By creating a nationally integrated, modern animal disease response system, like the National Animal Identification System, animal health officials quickly can obtain all of the information they need to locate as well as trace the movement of diseased and exposed animals, which will significantly minimize the spread of the disease," said Bruce Knight, under secretary for USDA's marketing and regulatory programs mission area. "The draft business plan is part of our effort to remain accountable and transparent in the implementation of this system."

In order to improve traceability, USDA applied a business plan model in an effort to: Identify areas of weakness and opportunity, establish benchmarks against which to measure success and communicate a vision for the future of traceability.

The draft plan provides a comprehensive look at the country's current traceability status, including a breakdown by species. It details seven strategies that will provide the greatest amount of traceability progress in a short amount of time. These strategies involve state and federally regulated and voluntary animal health programs, industry-administered animal management and marketing programs, as well as various animal identification techniques. It also will allow these varied components to work in harmony. Drawing from already existing systems and data, reduces the cost, amount of time and effort needed to implement a national animal identification system.

USDA will periodically review and update the plan to leverage new opportunities, address unforeseen challenges and maintain forward movement towards the ultimate goal of 48-hour traceback.

USDA also released the official version of the National Animal Identification System User Guide, which replaces the November 2006 draft version. During the past year, USDA has reviewed and incorporated public comments into the official version, making the document easier for readers to understand and use. The User Guide, upon which the Business Plan builds, provides producers with the information they need to know about how the National Animal Identification System works, how they can put the system to use and why participation would benefit them and their animals.

USDA is releasing "A Business Plan to Advance Animal Disease Traceability," which details recommended strategies and actions aimed to harmonize existing State/Federal regulated and voluntary animal health programs, industry-administered animal health and marketing programs, and various animal identification techniques. Specifically, this plan recognizes the following as key for achieving progress towards a comprehensive traceability infrastructure:

- Prioritize species and sectors to ensure resources are applied where traceability advances are needed most. Identify priority species (and sectors within species) to include all major food animals - cattle, swine, poultry, sheep, and goats, along with select equine sectors. Emphasis is placed on animals that move within commerce and that are commingled with animals from other premises, not on movements within premises or for local events.

- Harmonize government and industry animal identification programs by creating compatible processes and applying common data standards.

Separate systems maintained by States, industry and USDA will be able to "speak" to each other when essential animal location and movement information is needed to respond to a disease outbreak.

This approach conserves time, money, and effort by drawing from systems and data already in place.

The approach also maintains the flexibility required by individual States, industry associations, and other entities to use animal identification for multiple purposes.

- Standardize data elements of disease programs to ensure compatibility. By standardizing data elements in existing disease programs, USDA will greatly enhance disease tracing and emergency response capabilities.

- Integrate automated data capture technology with animal disease programs. By using NAIS-compliant identification devices that support automated data capture and integrating handheld computers/readers to replace paper-based forms, animal health officials will increase the volume and quality of the data, minimize errors and speed data entry into searchable databases.

- Partner with states, tribes, and territories to facilitate the development of each state's animal disease traceability infrastructure. State animal health officials will administer localized plans reflecting animal health priorities in their region.

- Collaborate with industry organizations and animal health officials to accelerate the adoption of practices that will advance traceability.

In partnership with USDA, non-profit industry organizations will promote premises registration within various species groups.

Accredited veterinarians, in collaboration with USDA, will adopt NAIS data standards in everyday animal health management and disease program activities at the producer level.

- Establish performance standards for ID devices and evaluate emerging technology with emphasis on systems that can operate at the "speed of commerce."

Recent disease costs

- Bovine Tuberculosis: Since 2002, detections in Arizona, California, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico and Texas have required the destruction of more than 25,000 cattle. A new detection in June in New Mexico will add to this total. The USDA has spent approximately $130 million on owner indemnification and control activities. Producers are financially affected by strict movement controls applied after new detections. Since 2004, USDA has tested 787,000 animals in response to TB outbreaks.

- Exotic Newcastle Disease (2002): Confirmed in California and quickly spread to the neighboring states of Arizona, Nevada and Texas. It was the largest animal disease outbreak in the United States in 30 years. It took 10 months to eradicate the disease at a cost of $180 million. Poultry producers, both commercial and backyard flock owners, lost 4 million birds during extensive depopulation activities.

- Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (2003): The USDA spent $5 million on its epidemiology investigation, depopulation and initial response. The United States lost 80 percent of its foreign beef trade when BSE was detected. As part of the effort to regain access to foreign markets, USDA spent approximately $189 million on the enhanced BSE surveillance program.

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