Oops...don't eat the venison:
Declaration of Emergency:
Mad Cow Disease in United States
[Federal Register: September 27, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 188)]
[Page 49342-49343]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27se01-41]
>
>
> Declaration of Emergency Because of Chronic Wasting Disease
>
> Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a disease of deer and elk, is part of a
> group of diseases known as transmissible
> spongiform encephalopathies (TSE's), a group that also includes scrapie
> and bovine spongiform encephalopathy
> (BSE). While considered rare, the incidence of CWD is on the rise among
> both wild and domestic cervids. The
> disease, which occurs mostly in adult animals, is progressive and always
> fatal. The origin and mode of
> transmission of CWD are unknown. The disease has become of particular
> concern due to its fatal nature, lack of
> known prevention or treatment, its impact on the farmed cervid industry,
> and its possible transmissibility to cattle
> or other domestic livestock and humans.
> CWD is known to be endemic in free-ranging deer and elk in a limited
> area in the western United States. Officials
> have detected it in free-ranging deer and elk in southeastern Wyoming,
> northeastern Colorado, and southwestern
> Nebraska. State departments of wildlife are taking steps to conduct
> surveillance in the endemic areas and to
> control the spread of CWD in wild cervids.
> In recent years, CWD has been found in 14 captive elk herds in Colorado,
> Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and
> South Dakota. Some of these herds have since been depopulated. Of the
> 2,300 farmed elk herds (with a total of
> 110,000 animals) in the United States, currently only 4 (with a total of
> approximately 1,000 animals) are known to
> be CWD- positive. We do not know the full extent of infection in farmed
> elk in the United States. Limited funds
> and the absence of a CWD program have allowed the Animal and Plant
> Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to
> conduct only minimal surveillance and testing, and not depopulation.
> Presently, herds are placed under State
> quarantine when infection is
> found.
> While current efforts have been sufficient to depopulate or send to
> slaughter a number of positive herds, primarily
> through State indemnity programs and voluntary depopulation, APHIS has
> determined that this method will not
> work to eliminate the disease in farmed cervids. First, there is no live
> animal test for CWD, so it is impossible to
> determine whether a live animal is positive; nor is there a vaccine to
> prevent the disease. Second, the incubation
> period is lengthy, and 3 to 5 years of continued surveillance is needed
> (with no new infection found) before a
> herd can be declared free of CWD through quarantine. To date, only 1 of
> the 14 known CWD-positive herds has
> been declared free of CWD following quarantine.
> Indemnity from State programs has not been adequate to pay fair market
> value for depopulated elk, so each
> depopulation has caused considerable financial loss to the herd owner.
> Because no funds are available within
> APHIS for depopulation and payment of indemnity, the only option for
> producers to gain some compensation for
> eliminating a CWD-positive herd is to slaughter the animals for human
> consumption. This option represents a very
> limited incentive for producers to participate in an eradication
> program. Also, it poses potential problems related
> to contamination of slaughter facilities and potential human exposure to
> preclinical infected animals that are not
> detectable with our current testing tools.
> Aggressive action in controlling this disease now will decrease the
> chance of having to deal with a much larger,
> widespread, and costly problem later, such as the situation with BSE in
> Europe. The European Union is struggling
> to rebuild consumer confidence in Europe's beef after recent outbreaks
> of BSE in France, Spain, and Germany. As
> demonstrated in Europe, once shaken, consumer confidence is very
> difficult to rebuild. BSE's human form, known
> as variant Creutzfeldt- Jakob Disease (vCJD), has killed more than 80
> people in the United Kingdom and 2 in Spain.
> There is no known cure for this deadly disease, or for any of the other
> diseases caused by TSE's that affect
> humans or animals. Although there is currently no evidence that CWD is
> linked to disease in humans, or in
> domestic animals other than deer and elk, a theoretical risk of such a
> link exists. Public perception and consumer
> fears that CWD from deer and elk could cause disease in humans or in
> domestic livestock could destroy the
> markets for elk or deer products. Canada has prohibited the import of
> U.S. cervids due to CWD, and other
> countries are contemplating import restrictions on elk and deer and
> their products. Recently, Korea informed
> APHIS that it is temporarily suspending the importation of deer and elk
> and their products from the United States
> and Canada.
> Without a Federal program in place to depopulate infected and exposed
> animals, the movement of infected elk
> into new herds and States with no known infection will continue or may
> even accelerate. APHIS needs to take
> action to document the prevalence of the disease and to prevent its
> further spread. Furthermore, the Agency
> needs to demonstrate, as with other TSE's, that it is able and willing
> to take early and effective action to protect
> the health of U.S. animals and animal industries.
> Therefore, in order to address the CWD threat to U.S. livestock, APHIS
> has determined that additional funds are
> needed for a CWD eradication program. In addition to the purchase of
> animals, the additional funds will be used
> for program activities such as depopulation and disposal, clean-up and
> disinfection, establishment of surveillance
> and certification programs, testing, implementation and maintenance of
> quarantines, surveillance, and training for
> producers and veterinarians. These additional funds will reduce the
> spread of CWD in captive elk herds and
> discourage entry of positive or exposed animals into the human and
> animal food chains, and should save the
> Federal Government and farmed elk industry from having to deal with a
> more costly and widespread problem later.
> Therefore, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of September 25,
> 1981, as amended (7 U.S.C. 147b), I
> declare that there is an emergency that threatens the livestock industry
> of this country and hereby authorize the
> transfer and use of such funds as may be necessary from appropriations
> or other funds available to the agencies
> or corporations of the United States Department of Agriculture to
> establish a chronic wasting disease eradication
> program in the United States.
>
> Effective Date: This declaration of emergency shall become effective
> September 21, 2001.
> Ann M. Veneman,
> Secretary of Agriculture.
> [FR Doc. 01-24192 Filed 9-26-01; 8:45 am]
> BILLING CODE 3410-34-P |
