Tuberculosis Testing of Livestock Other Than Cattle and Bison

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

9 CFR Part 77

[Docket No. 97-062-1]

Tuberculosis Testing of Livestock Other Than Cattle and Bison

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim rule and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We are amending the tuberculosis regulations to include

species of livestock other than cattle and bison in the requirement for

two annual herd tests for newly assembled herds on premises where a

tuberculous herd has been depopulated. This requirement is necessary

because, without testing, such livestock could become infected and

spread tuberculosis to the cattle or bison in the herd before the

disease was detected in the herd. Adding this requirement to the

tuberculosis regulations will help ensure continued progress toward

eradicating tuberculosis in the U.S. livestock population.

DATES: Interim rule effective February 23, 1998. Consideration will be

given only to comments received on or before April 24, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and three copies of your comments to

Docket No. 97-062-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS,

suite 3C03, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please

state that your comments refer to Docket No. 97-062-1. Comments

[[Page 8838]]

received may be inspected at USDA, room 1141, South Building, 14th

Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. Persons wishing to

inspect comments are requested to call ahead on (202) 690-2817 to

facilitate entry into the comment reading room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. James P. Davis, Senior Staff

Veterinarian, National Animal Health Programs, VS, APHIS, 4700 River

Road Unit 36, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231, (301) 734-7727; or e-mail:

[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Bovine tuberculosis is the contagious, infectious, and communicable

disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis. The regulations in 9 CFR part

77, ``Tuberculosis'' (referred to below as the regulations), regulate

the interstate movement of cattle and bison because of tuberculosis.

Cattle or bison not known to be affected with or exposed to

tuberculosis may be moved interstate without restriction if those

cattle or bison are moved from a State designated as an accredited-

free, accredited-free (suspended), or modified accredited State. The

regulations restrict the interstate movement of cattle or bison not

known to be affected with or exposed to tuberculosis if those cattle or

bison are moved from a nonmodified accredited State.

The status of a State is based on its freedom from evidence of

tuberculosis in cattle and bison, the effectiveness of the State's

tuberculosis eradication program, and the degree of the State's

compliance with the standards contained in a document titled ``Uniform

Methods and Rules--Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication'' (referred to below

as the UM&R), which, as explained in the definition of Uniform Methods

and Rules--Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication in Sec. 77.1, has been

incorporated by reference into the regulations.

Under the provisions of the UM&R, disclosure of tuberculosis in any

herd must be followed by a complete epidemiologic investigation to

determine the source of the infection in the herd and delimit the

possible spread of the disease from the herd. Given the serious effects

of the disease and the need to contain its spread, the Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service (APHIS) believes that every effort needs to

be made to ensure the immediate elimination of tuberculosis from all

species of domestic livestock on the affected premises. The most

effective and immediate means of eliminating tuberculosis from a

premises is the depopulation--i.e., removal directly to slaughter--of

the entire herd.

When an affected herd has been depopulated, there is still some

risk that the bovine tuberculosis disease agent, M. bovis, could

persist on the premises from which the affected herd was removed.

Because of that risk, the UM&R requires that two annual herd tests be

applied to all cattle and bison in a newly assembled herd on premises

where a tuberculous herd has been depopulated, with the first test

being applied approximately 6 months after the assembly of the new

herd. These two tests are intended to ensure that the animals in the

new herd have not been infected with tuberculosis through environmental

exposure to M. bovis remaining on the premises. The provisions of the

UM&R do, however, recognize that the M. bovis organism cannot persist

indefinitely in the environment without an animal host. Thus, the UM&R

provides that the requirement for two annual herd tests for a newly

assembled herd can be waived if the premises has remained vacant--i.e,

free of livestock--for 1 year or more.

We believe that the testing requirement described in the previous

paragraph is a necessary and sound approach to reducing the risk of

tuberculosis being introduced into a newly assembled herd on a premises

where a tuberculous herd has been depopulated. Because the UM&R

currently incorporated specifically calls for the herd tests to be

applied to all cattle and bison, the herd test requirement does not

extend to other species of livestock that may be included in a new

herd. However, it is becoming increasingly common for herd owners to

maintain mixed groups of livestock on common ground, with cattle and

bison commingling with animals such as llamas, alpacas, or captive

deer. These other species are as susceptible to tuberculosis as cattle

or bison and are capable of spreading the disease to, or contracting

the disease from, the other livestock in the herd. Thus, the UM&R's

omission of livestock other than cattle and bison from the herd testing

requirement makes it possible for tuberculosis-infected livestock to be

present in a mixed herd without being diagnosed, which could result in

the herd's cattle or bison becoming infected with tuberculosis.

This potential risk presented by other species of livestock is

recognized in our regulations in 9 CFR part 50, which provide for the

payment of indemnity to the owners of animals destroyed because of

tuberculosis. Specifically, Sec. 50.14(f) of those regulations provides

that a claim for compensation for exposed cattle, bison, or cervids

destroyed during a herd depopulation will not be allowed if a

designated epidemiologist determines that exotic bovidae (such as

antelope) or other species of livestock in the herd were exposed to

tuberculosis by reason of association with tuberculous livestock but

were not destroyed as part of the herd depopulation. This basis for the

denial of a compensation claim is intended to encourage herd owners to

destroy all exposed livestock in a herd, not just the cattle, bison, or

cervids for which compensation would be paid. This ensures that when

the cattle, bison, or cervids in an affected herd are depopulated,

other exposed species do not remain on the premises to infect the

healthy livestock with which the owner reassembles the herd.

Given that the risk of tuberculosis exposure applies to all the

livestock--not just the cattle and bison--in a newly assembled herd on

a premises where a tuberculous herd was depopulated, we believe that it

is necessary to include other species of livestock in the requirement

for two annual herd tests for such herds. To do so, we have amended the

definitions of Accredited-free (suspended) State and Modified

accredited State in Sec. 77.1 of the regulations. To support those

changes, we have also amended the definition of herd in Sec. 77.1 and

have added a definition for livestock to that section.

The definition of Accredited-free (suspended) State provides that a

State with the status of an accredited-free State is designated as

accredited-free (suspended) if tuberculosis is detected in any cattle

or bison in the State. Such a State will qualify for redesignation as

an accredited-free State after the herd in which tuberculosis is

detected has been quarantined, an epidemiological investigation has

confirmed that the disease has not spread from the herd, and all

reactor cattle and bison have been destroyed. The definition of

Modified accredited State provides, in part, that a State must comply

with all the provisions of the UM&R regarding modified accredited

States, and must apply those provisions to bison in the same manner as

to cattle, in order to establish or maintain status as a modified

accredited State. To each of those definitions, we have added the

further requirement that if any livestock other than cattle or bison

are included in a newly assembled herd on a premises where a

tuberculous herd has been depopulated, the State must apply

[[Page 8839]]

the herd test requirements of the UM&R for such newly assembled herds

to those other livestock in the same manner as to cattle and bison.

Because, as discussed above, the composition of a herd may not be

limited to cattle or bison, we have also amended the definition of herd

in Sec. 77.1. The scope of the definition had been limited to groups of

cattle, bison, or both; as amended by this interim rule, the definition

of herd now includes other livestock. We have also added the following

definition of livestock: ``Cattle, bison, cervids, swine, dairy goats,

and other hoofed animals (such as llamas, alpacas, and antelope) raised

or maintained in captivity for the production of meat and other

products, for sport, or for exhibition.'' These two definitions are the

same as those already provided for those terms in Sec. 50.1 of the

tuberculosis indemnity regulations.

Applicability to State Tuberculosis Status

Although this interim rule provides for the testing of all

livestock in a newly assembled herd on a premises where a tuberculous

herd has been depopulated, a State's tuberculosis status will continue

to be based on the presence or absence of tuberculosis in cattle or

bison in herds within the State. The intent of this interim rule is to

provide for the identification and elimination of potential sources of

tuberculosis infection in those newly assembled herds when they contain

cattle or bison and other livestock. The detection of tuberculosis in

livestock other than cattle and bison in a herd as a result of the

testing provisions of this interim rule will not affect a State's

tuberculosis status unless it is conclusively determined, in accordance

with the existing regulations and the provisions of the UM&R, that

tuberculosis infection is also present in the herd's cattle or bison.

Immediate Action

The Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

has determined that there is good cause for publishing this interim

rule without prior opportunity for public comment. Immediate action is

warranted to change the regulations in order to close a loophole in the

herd testing requirements that could result in the spread of

tuberculosis within mixed herds of cattle, bison, and other species of

livestock. Without this testing requirement, it is possible for a

tuberculosis-infected animal to spread the disease throughout a newly

assembled herd, and for the disease to remain undetected until the

cattle or bison in the herd are tested for tuberculosis. Two notable

examples of tuberculosis being spread in this way occurred in 1992. In

the State of New York, two dairy herds were depopulated after cattle in

the herds were found to be infected with tuberculosis, and an

additional 18 dairy herds were quarantined and tested. It was

determined that the cattle in one of the herds that was depopulated had

been exposed to tuberculous cervids that shared the premises.

Similarly, tuberculosis was found in beef cattle in Pennsylvania that

had been in contact with tuberculous cervids in the herd. As a result

of these outbreaks, New York and Pennsylvania lost their accredited-

free State status. Further, in one State there is a premises where

cattle and bison were depopulated because of bovine tuberculosis, but

other livestock exposed to the tuberculous cattle and bison remained

after the depopulation. These exposed livestock have now commingled

with the newly reassembled cattle and bison on that same premises. It

is necessary to immediately implement this interim rule to ensure that

all livestock on that premises have been properly tested before

upgrading the State's tuberculosis status to accredited-free.

Because prior notice and other public procedures with respect to

this action are impracticable and contrary to the public interest under

these conditions, we find good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553 to make it

effective upon publication in the Federal Register. We will consider

comments that are received within 60 days of publication of this rule

in the Federal Register. After the comment period closes, we will

publish another document in the Federal Register. It will include a

discussion of any comments we receive and any amendments we are making

to the rule as a result of the comments.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. The rule

has been determined to be not significant for the purposes of Executive

Order 12866 and, therefore, has not been reviewed by the Office of

Management and Budget.

This interim rule amends the tuberculosis regulations by including

species of livestock other than cattle and bison in the requirement for

two annual herd tests for newly assembled herds on premises where a

tuberculous herd has been depopulated. We are taking this action

because, without testing, such livestock could become infected and

spread tuberculosis to the cattle or bison in the herd before the

disease was detected in the herd. Adding this requirement to the

tuberculosis regulations will help ensure continued progress toward

eradicating tuberculosis in the U.S. livestock population.

The U.S. livestock industry relies on healthy animals for its

economic well-being, and the industry's role in the U.S. economy is

significant. As an example, the total value of U.S. livestock output in

1991 was $66.6 billion, about half of the value of all agricultural

production in the United States for that year. The value of live animal

exports and exports of meat products totaled $4.3 billion in 1991,

equivalent to 10 percent of the value of all U.S. agricultural exports

that year. In 1996, there were 1,194,390 domestic operations with

cattle and calves, and the inventory of cattle and calves at the end of

that year stood at 101.2 million head with a value of more than $52

billion (U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural

Statistics Service, ``Agricultural Statistics 1995-96,'' Table 370).

Recent studies on the economic impact of bovine tuberculosis in the

United States are not available. However, a comprehensive computer

model developed by Canada in 1979 indicates that, if the United States'

tuberculosis eradication program were discontinued, annual losses in

the United States would exceed $1 billion. Another study, conducted in

1972, concluded that APHIS' tuberculosis eradication program was fully

justified from an economic standpoint, as benefits exceeded costs by a

margin of 3.64 to 1.1

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\1\ Information about these studies can be obtained by

contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

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The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires that agencies consider the

economic impact of rule changes on small entities. The entities

potentially affected by this rule change are herd owners, most of whom

are classified as small entities under the Small Business

Administration's (SBA's) criteria. In 1992, for example, 92 percent of

all 1,074,349 farms in the U.S. with cattle inventory had herds of

fewer than 200 cattle (U.S. Department of Commerce, ``1992 Census of

Agriculture,'' 1993). In that same year, 98 percent of all 921,695

livestock and dairy farms in the United States had sales of less than

$0.5 million, the small entity size standard established by the SBA for

firms engaged in livestock and animal specialty services.

This interim rule is not expected to have a significant economic

impact on a substantial number of herd owners, large or small, for

several reasons. First,

[[Page 8840]]

only a very small percentage of herds will be affected. It is estimated

that only about 1 percent of all herds in the United States are mixed

herds comprised of both cattle and/or bison and other species of

livestock. Second, the testing of these other species of livestock will

be conducted by Federal or State veterinary medical officers at no cost

to herd owners. Herd owners will have to bear the cost of presenting

the animals for testing, but that cost should be minimal in most cases.

Only in rare situations, such as those where exotic animals have to be

sedated, would the cost of presenting animals exceed minimal levels.

Third, if it is necessary to destroy cattle or bison that have been

identified as tuberculosis-exposed on the basis of a herd test that

considers livestock other than cattle and bison, the economic impact on

herd owners will be mitigated, if not entirely offset, by the payment

of indemnity by APHIS.

For the reasons stated above, this interim rule is not expected to

have an adverse impact on a significant number of herd owners. Indeed,

herd owners are more likely to benefit over time as continued progress

toward the eradication of tuberculosis serves to enhance livestock

values.

Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and

Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action will

not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small

entities.

Executive Order 12372

This program/activity is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance under No. 10.025 and is subject to Executive Order 12372,

which requires intergovernmental consultation with State and local

officials. (See 7 CFR part 3015, subpart V.)

Executive Order 12988

This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil

Justice Reform. This rule: (1) Preempts all State and local laws and

regulations that are in conflict with this rule; (2) has no retroactive

effect; and (3) does not require administrative proceedings before

parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This rule contains no new information collection or recordkeeping

requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501

et seq.).

List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 77

Animal diseases, Bison, Cattle, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements, Transportation, Tuberculosis.

Accordingly, 9 CFR part 77 is amended as follows:

PART 77--TUBERCULOSIS

1. The authority citation for part 77 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 21 U.S.C. 111, 114, 114a, 115-117, 120, 121, 134b,

and 134f; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.2(d).

2. Section 77.1 is amended as follows:

a. In the definition of Accredited-free (suspended) State,

paragraph (1)(ii) is revised to read as set forth below.

b. The definition of Herd is revised to read as set forth below.

c. A definition of Livestock is added, in alphabetical order, to

read as set forth below.

d. In the definition of Modified accredited state, paragraph (1)(i)

is revised to read as set forth below.

Sec. 77.1 Definitions.

* * * * *

Accredited-free (suspended) State. (1) * * *

(ii) A State is qualified for redesignation of accredited-free

status after the herd in which tuberculosis is detected has been

quarantined, an epidemiological investigation has confirmed that the

disease has not spread from the herd, and all reactor cattle and bison

have been destroyed. If any livestock other than cattle or bison are

included in a newly assembled herd on a premises where a tuberculous

herd has been depopulated, the State must apply the herd test

requirements of the ``Uniform Methods and Rules--Bovine Tuberculosis

Eradication'' for such newly assembled herds to those other livestock

in the same manner as to cattle and bison.

* * * * *

Herd. Any group of livestock maintained on common ground for any

purpose, or two or more groups of livestock under common ownership or

supervision, geographically separated but that have an interchange or

movement of livestock without regard to health status, as determined by

the Administrator.

* * * * *

Livestock. Cattle, bison, cervids, swine, dairy goats, and other

hoofed animals (such as llamas, alpacas, and antelope) raised or

maintained in captivity for the production of meat and other products,

for sport, or for exhibition.

Modified accredited State. (1)(i) To establish or maintain status

as a modified accredited State, a State must comply with all of the

provisions of the ``Uniform Methods and Rules--Bovine Tuberculosis

Eradication'' regarding modified accredited States, and must apply

these provisions to bison in the same manner as to cattle. Further, if

any livestock other than cattle or bison are included in a newly

assembled herd on a premises where a tuberculous herd has been

depopulated, the State must apply the herd test requirements of the

``Uniform Methods and Rules--Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication'' for such

newly assembled herds to those other livestock in the same manner as to

cattle and bison. Modified accredited State status must be renewed

annually.

* * * * *

Done in Washington, DC, this 18th day of February 1998.

Craig A. Reed,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 98-4490 Filed 2-20-98; 8:45 am]

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