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The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has drafted a proposed action plan that presents current thinking and concepts about modifications that could be made to our domestic programs for swine brucellosis (SB) and pseudorabies (PRV).
“This action plan outlines a potential new approach to our regulations,” said John R. Clifford, Deputy Administrator for APHIS' Veterinary Services program. “We recognize that our animal health status related to these diseases has changed, and we'd like to bring our regulations up to date to address current risks.”
No States have had recent outbreaks of SB or PRV in commercial production swine. Therefore, all States are currently considered free for SB and PRV and there are no restrictions on the interstate movement of any swine within the United States for these diseases.
In recent years, APHIS has identified several swine herds throughout the United States that were infected with SB or PRV. None of these herds were commercial production swine and the infections were all attributed to exposure to feral swine or to herds which may have had feral swine exposure. Feral swine are a known reservoir of SB and PRV. The proposed action plan incorporates the risk of disease introduction presented by feral swine, which is not addressed in our current regulations.
This proposed action plan is published in the February 7 issue of the Federal Register at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2010-0086
Thursday February 7, 2013/ APHIS-USDA/ United States.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov
