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Rocky’s Law, S3551 and its companion A5040, would require the mandatory registration of animal rescue organizations, as opposed to the current laws providing for voluntary registration.  They would also would require all animal rescue organizations, pet shops, shelters and pounds to conduct and provide test results about the animal’s medical status and behavioral history to people purchasing* pets.

The expansion of existing pet shop requirements to animal rescue organizations and shelters is laudable, but some of the proposed requirements are medically unsound as written and others would result in unintended consequences.  Also, some of the requirements for pet shops would still exceed those required for rescues and shelters, even though the potential risks are indistinguishable.  Finally, penalties for behavioral conditions in pets that result in human harm, including death, do not recognize the owner’s responsibility and influence over the pet’s behavioral abnormalities that occur after purchase.  Accordingly, some of the penalties for conditions resulting from the owner’s oversight of the animal and not the sellers are misplaced.

Some of these issues are identified herein—others will be discussed in subsequent blogs.

The bill, if passed, would require an animal rescue organization facility, shelter and pound to “document the health, behavioral, and medical history of an animal prior to offering the animal for adoption.”

However, these requirements exclude animal rescue organizations and instead only apply to animal rescue organization facilities.  While both entities sell pets to owners in the State, only those with a facility in the State would have to comply with the expanded requirements. Since risks from animal rescue organizations meet or exceed those with facilities in the State, the provisions should apply to all.

The bill would also exempt animal rescue organization facilities, shelters and pounds from providing certain information by stating the information should be provided “to the extent possible.”  For example, the bill would require “[t]o the extent possible, an animal rescue organization facility, shelter, or pound shall determine and maintain records of the:

(1) date and place of birth of each animal placed in its care, and the actual or approximate age as established by a veterinarian, or the animal; [there is no reason a veterinarian cannot provide an approximate age, so this should be a requirement]

(2) sex, color markings, and other identifying information of the animal, including any tag, tattoo, collar number, or microchip information; [there is no reason why this information should not be required for every animal sold]

(3) name and address if the veterinarian last attending to the animal before the animal was placed in the animal rescue organization facility, shelter, or pound and any health, behavioral, or medical records that may be available from the veterinarian: [with the increasing incidence of the importation of highly contagious, infectious diseases through animal rescue organizations, this information should be required]

(4) name and address of the veterinarian attending to the animal while the animal is in the custody of the animal rescue organization facility, shelter, or pound, and the dates of the initial and any subsequent examinations of the animal; [there is no reason this information would not be available, and therefore it should always be provided]”

The bills would require a veterinarian to certify that the animal is “free” of parasites, but it would be more reasonable for a veterinarian to certify that she has performed an examination for internal and external parasites, and has treated the animal, if needed, based on the results of that examination.

The American Animal Hospital Association notes that every dog and cat “should receive year-round parasite control to prevent against heartworms, intestinal parasites, fleas, and when appropriate, ticks. Even if your pet spends most of his time indoors, he can still pick up diseases from these sneaky pests that can fly, crawl, or hitchhike on you to get inside your house. These bugs spread serious (even fatal, in the case of heartworms) diseases that are easily preventable with monthly medications.”

Statements requiring a veterinarian to certify that the animal is free from “contagious hair loss” and “does not have feces free of disease, infection, and parasites” should be amended.  For example, feces do not have diseases.  Notably, there can be existing but subclinical infections that would not be evident during a physical examination even if certain testing were performed.

Also, feces contain germs, including bacteria that will be reported if cultured.  As written, a veterinarian may be inclined to prescribe an antibiotic upon receipt of a positive culture, even in the absence of clinical signs of disease.  The presence of bacteria in feces does not necessarily mean that the animal is diseased or infected. Such treatment is inconsistent with federal, state and medical policies to minimize unnecessary treatment with antibiotics that leads to antibiotic resistance. Further, the time required for bacterial and viral testing would unnecessarily delay sale or adoption.

Instead of trying to proscribe how veterinarians should perform examinations and diagnose illness, the sponsors should consider extending the warranty required for pet shops to animal rescue organizations, animal rescue organization facilities, and shelters.

Additional issues  will be addressed in a subsequent blog.

 

 

*Purchasing and purchase should be considered the same as adopting and adoption.

S3366 (Senator Stack) and identical bill A3684 (Assemblywomen Chaparro and McKnight) recently introduced bills that would expand the requirements of notification to animal owners before their animals were tested for rabies virus.  Such measures could unreasonably delay testing that is required to ensure that other animals and humans were not exposed to rabies virus, a nearly 100% fatal virus.

Rabies testing requires extraction and testing of the brain, following euthanasia. The bill would also permit the owners the ability to request the return of the animal’s head following testing.  The bill would expose veterinarians, laboratory technicians and others-including the animal’s owner-to unnecessary and dangerous exposure to infectious, contagious disease if the current prohibition on the ban of the return of remains to veterinarians or animal owners is eliminated.

Rabies is a dangerously pathogenic virus, for which extensive science-based public health laws have been development and implemented. Vaccination is the key to prevent unnecessary euthanasia and testing of those animals for which approved vaccines have been developed and approved. The routine vaccination of these species, including dogs and cats, must be performed by veterinarians in New Jersey for the animal to be considered adequately protected. Proper vaccination would eliminate the need for the potentially dangerous provisions proposed in these bills.

New Jersey State and Local Departments of Health and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture enforce the state and local laws governing the reporting and testing of animals  exposed or infected with rabies virus.

Confirmed or suspect cases must be immediately reported to the relevant local health department.  Rabies, as described by NJDOH,

is an infectious disease caused by the rabies virus. Animals infected with rabies display strange behavior such as aggression, and signs of neurologic impairment including vocalization, circling, and paralysis.  People who are bitten by, or have had contact with saliva from an animal should notify the local health department (LHD) having jurisdiction where the animal is located and seek medical care.

See also N.J.S.A. 26:4-78 (“whenever a dog, cat, or other animal has been known or suspected to have been bitten by an animal known or suspected to be affected by rabies, the owner of the animal or any person with knowledge of the incident shall notify the local health department with jurisdiction where the animal is located.”).

After a report is received, “[t]he Health Officer shall then serve notice on the owner of the animal requiring euthanasia or confinement for up to 6 months and observation for the emergence of clinical signs of rabies.” (N.J.S.A 26:4-83).

Guidance from the State’s Public Health and Environmental Laboratories (PHEL), responsible for rabies testing, prohibits specimens submitted for rabies testing to be returned to veterinarians or animal animals UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.  See Preparation of Specimens for Submission (emphasis in original.)

According to the CDC, “[r]abies is a preventable viral disease of mammals most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal.”

Rabies testing, which requires animal euthanasia required extraction, submission and laboratory testing of at least two locations in the brain, preferably the brain stem and cerebellum.

According to the Center for Food Security & Public Health,

In animals, rabies prevention is based on vaccination and the avoidance of contact with infected animals (e.g., preventing pets from roaming, housing pet rabbits and rodents indoors) . . . Vaccination is recommended for dogs, cats and ferrets, to reduce human exposure as well as to protect the animal. Vaccination is recommended for dogs, cats and ferrets.

USDA has also licensed rabies vaccines for livestock in the United States, including horses, cattle and sheep.

 

 

Originally Posted: 25 Jan 2019 12:11 PM PST, republished with permission.

In most regions of the United States, dog overpopulation as an issue has been solved, and there are more potential owners than there are local pet dogs available. For example, many of the dogs that arrive in Northeastern shelters and rescues come from the southern United States, Puerto Rico, and sometimes even foreign countries.

Ending the dog surplus problem in some parts of the country is a challenge, due to a lack of clear records. To solve a problem, you have to be able to define it. Who is breeding these dogs? Who is surrendering them? Who is adopting them? And more and more, we’re having to ask where they coming from.

One thing we do know, is that fewer dogs are being bred in the United States while the practice of importing dogs from foreign countries for adoption is growing — and fast. So it is little surprise that the partial government shutdown has led to complaints from a group that brings 800+ dogs a year into the U.S., because they can no longer obtain the proper importation permits. This is just one organization of hundreds that are importing dogs in the Southwestern U.S., threatening the health of American dogs and flooding the dog marketplace.

This is why NAIA and our legislative partner, NAIA Trust are working so hard to find legislative solutions to this mushrooming problem.

Even though the government shutdown is currently over, concerns about the importation of dogs from other countries for sale/adoption in the United States remains a serious concern.  Such importation has already resulted in the introduction and spread of diseases infectious to humans and animals.

Virulent Newcastle disease (VND), formerly known as Exotic Newcastle Disease, and African Swine Fever outbreaks continue to impact poultry in California and hogs in China, respectively.  Notably, these diseases are largely not infectious to humans, but nevertheless are impacting farmers, ranchers, hobbyists, national and internal markets.

California has been trying to stamp out VND since last May.  Unfortunately, the outbreak, which initially infected only backyard breeders and owners, has since spread to some commercial flocks.  As reported by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), “[s]ince May 2018, USDA/APHIS and CDFA employees have been working seven days a week in Southern California to eradicate virulent Newcastle disease in backyard birds, and to protect commercial facilities.”

Virulent Newcastle disease (VND), formerly known as Exotic Newcastle Disease, is a serious, highly contagious viral disease that can affect poultry and other birds. In rare cases, humans that have exposure to infected birds may get eye inflammation or mild fever-like symptoms. These signs generally resolve without treatment, however, medical care should be sought if symptoms persist. Infection is easily prevented by using standard personal protective equipment. Virulent Newcastle disease is not a food safety concern. No human cases of Newcastle disease have ever occurred from eating poultry products. Properly cooked poultry products are safe to eat.

This is not CDFA’s first rodeo with VND.  From 2002-2003, VND outbreaks in back yard flocks and commercial poultry operations in Southern California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas “led to the depopulation of 3.16 million birds at a cost of $161 million” before the outbreak was successfully eradicated.

Since the current VND outbreak has persisted, despite a robust state and federal response, the California State Veterinarian has announced the following additional draconian measures in an attempt to contain this outbreak:

Due to progression and duration of a virulent Newcastle Disease (VND) outbreak in parts of Southern California, the State Veterinarian has ordered mandatory euthanasia of birds in neighborhoods in Compton (Los Angeles County), Muscoy (San Bernardino County), Mira Loma/Jurupa Valley (Riverside County)       Perris (Riverside County).

Unfortunately, even if birds and flocks have previously tested negative but now fall within a designated mandatory euthanasia area, the birds must be euthanized. USDA/CDFA staff will contact affected bird owners.

While this action is difficult for all involved, it MUST be done to eradicate VND. Otherwise, the disease will continue to spread and kill additional flocks.

When depopulation of flocks is mandated to contain such a devastating outbreak it is very difficult on animal owners as well as the animal health officials involved.

Parallel measures have seemingly been deployed in China, where African Swine Fever was first confirmed in more than 50 cases since August 2018.

According to USDA, African Swine Fever was “first described in the 1920s in Kenya, is a highly contagious hemorrhagic disease of wild and domestic suids with extremely high morbidity and mortality rates. ASF is a notifiable disease with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) due to its ability to spread rapidly and cause severe illness. ASF does not pose a risk to public health.”

Similar to concerns about the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease virus in the UK in 2001—considered the most contagious virus affecting animals—ASF can be spread by people or equipment not properly decontaminated.  Because of such concerns, the USDA and U.S. pork producers and related associations have provided information to producers about how to protect their animals against accidental exposure.

ASF has reportedly “infected 100 farms across China since August 2018, spreading faster than in any other country to date.”  

The National Pork Producers Council reported

On August 3, 2018, China reported their first case of ASF. By August 23, 2018 there were four outbreaks reported, and more are suspected. The outbreaks are in areas of China with large pig populations. APHIS, CBP and all other agencies with relevant authority are monitoring movements of people and goods from these areas to guard against an ASF outbreak in the United States. ASF does not infect people or other animals, and there are no food safety implications.

USDA has posted several guidance documents regarding its response to the ASF outbreak, available here.

A list of tasks intended to prevent the importation of infected or contaminated products, include the following precautionary measures:

APHIS import restrictions prohibit the entry of untreated animal products, including meat and meat products, from countries or regions considered affected with certain diseases. Fresh/frozen pork is prohibited from regions affected with FMD, CSF, SVD, or ASF, while meat that has been cooked is allowed under APHIS regulations.

Swine casings that originate from ASF positive countries/regions are prohibited entry into the US under APHIS regulations.

APHIS acted to deny entry of Chinese origin swine casings in transit when ASF was found in China.

A comprehensive list is available at usda-industry-prevention-points.pdf.

Clinical trials are commonly used during the development of drugs studied for approval by FDA for the use in animals.  Similar use in veterinary medicine has been increasing, but there are a number of interesting issues not considered in human clinical trials, where the individual involved in such trials is able to provide consent for inclusion in the trial.  Clearly, the animals that may be subject to such studies, cannot provide specific consent—their owner would have to do so on their behalf.  Those advocating for a change in status of animals as “property” to “persons” would be expected to object to such clinical trials, even if they benefit animals and people and help save their lives.

This issue was critically analyzed by veterinarians analyzing whether clinical veterinary studies must be reviewed by institutional animal care and use committees pursuant the Animal Welfare Act; the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare for those studies funded by NIH; and/or reviewed and approved by a Veterinary Clinical Studies Committee established by a research entity, in a JAVMA published study, “Institutional animal care and use committee review of clinical studies.”

The study found

Determining whether activities conducted under the auspices of a clinical study are regulated by the USDA or OLAW, and thus require IACUC oversight, is not always a clear and simple issue. Institutions should develop their own guidance on how the IACUC oversees-or does not oversee-clinical trials.

Whether and to the extent certain clinical trials required review and approval by the IACUC pursuant to the Animal Welfare Act and/or OLAW requirements was dependent on whether the studying entities purchased the animals involved in the clinical trial and whether the proposed procedures would be required for the animal’s care, or were additional procedures only required for the purposes of the clinical trial.

The article presents 6 examples to help determine when USDA or OLAW oversight would be required.

Clearly, clinical trials, as utilized in human medicine, provide critical data related to the final approval of drugs and medical devices that will help prevent, diagnose and/or treat animals affected with life-altering diseases and conditions.

In a bulletin published on September 25, 2018, USDA announced “four overarching goals for advancing animal disease traceability to protect the long-term health, marketability and economic viability of the U.S. livestock industry.”

Advance the electronic sharing of data among federal and state animal health officials, veterinarians and industry; including sharing basic animal disease traceability data with the federal animal health events repository (AHER).

Use electronic ID tags for animals requiring individual identification in order to make the transmission of data more efficient;

Enhance the ability to track animals from birth to slaughter through a system that allows tracking data points to be connected; and

Elevate the discussion with States and industry to work toward a system where animal health certificates are electronically transmitted from private veterinarians to state animal health officials.

Animal disease traceability has been a long-term goal of state and federal officials, as well as farmers and ranchers interested in protecting their livestock from the spread of contagious, infectious diseases.

A State-Federal Working Group reviewed the existing program and potential future goals, the results of which are published in a Summary of Program Reviews and Proposed Directions, dated April 2018.

The working group expressed general concerns about, in part: (1) confidentiality and security of information systems; (2) producer liability based on disease transmission, and animal and human injury resulting from applying and reading identification tags; (3) cost; (4) lack of proportionality of scale for small compared to large producers; and (5) beef feeder cattle under versus over the age of 18 months; practicality of identifying livestock at birth premises; flexibility, among other issues.

There was particular concern over electronic ID (EID), related technology and costs:

  • “If radio frequency ID (RFID) is to be utilized, the establishment of standards, including one technology (low-frequency (LF) vs ultra-high frequency (UHF)) is critical. Most stakeholders supported a dual technology tag as an interim measure.
  • The infrastructure must be in place to support the transition to EID.
  • Cost remains the primary concern of producers and representatives from other sectors of the industry for both the reader infrastructure and tags; however, the use of EID would provide substantial savings due to the increased efficiency associated with the technology.
  • Availability and use of electronic forms, in particular, electronic ICVIs. Obtaining records electronically would decrease cost and improve the completeness and accuracy of the data. Additionally, retiring animal numbers at slaughter would be feasible, where it has been cost-prohibitive with visual-only tags.
  • A cost analysis on metal NUES tags to show the full cost of tags when working cattle to manually record ID numbers (labor, stress and shrink, injury, etc.), as well as their limitations relative to traceability, e.g., tag retirement, to more accurately illustrate the 14 costs of both visual-only and EID tags.
  • Proportionally higher implementation costs for smaller producers, who sell direct to consumers and believe their livestock are already highly traceable.”

USDA’s current goals build on its final rule adopted on January 9, 2013, “Traceability for Livestock Moving Interstate,” which requires cattle, bison, horses and other equine species, poultry, sheep and goats, swine, and captive cervids moving interstate to be officially identified and accompanied by an interstate certificate of veterinary inspection (ICVI) or other documentation, with limited exemptions.

The proposals from the Working, as published in the report, include:

  1. Maintain the policy that traceability regulations do not apply to interstate movements to a custom slaughter facility in accordance with Federal and State regulations for preparation of meat.
  2. Maintain the current population of livestock covered by the official ID requirements. The ADT rule will continue to include:
  • All dairy
  • Beef cattle > 18 months of age
  • All rodeo and exhibition cattle.
  1. Cattle should be identified to their birth premises , thus the official ID records must provide birth premises information for the animal. APHIS should revise Federal regulations to include interstate commerce and the appropriate authority – either USDA or State officials – should establish regulations that trigger official ID requirements at:
  • Change of ownership
  • First point of commingling
  • Interstate movement (may reflect no sale and no commingling).
  1. The United States must move toward an EID system for cattle with a target implementation date of January 1, 2023. A comprehensive plan is necessary to address the multitude of very complex issues related to the implementation of a fully integrated electronic system. A specialized industry-lead task force with government participation should develop the plan, with a focus on several key objectives (see report for specifics).
  2. APHIS and States must make the advancement of electronic records an immediate high priority. The enhancements recommended below would increase the ease of collecting data in a standardized format and subsequently provide access to accurate data in near real-time, greatly enhancing the effectiveness of U.S. traceability and disease control programs. (See report for specifics).
  3. Enhanced enforcement of existing regulations.
  4. APHIS should continue the efforts of the State/Federal Slaughter Plant Working Group to improve the rates of ID collection and correlation at slaughter.
  5. APHIS and States need to establish a partnership with industry that would enable utilization of private information systems for disease surveillance and response events. Ideally, establish a communication protocol between the private systems and an animal disease traceability portal that would allow producer data to be maintained in the private systems and made available to animal health officials only when needed for animal disease control and response. Producers would have the choice to maintain their data in a private or public system. APHIS and the States would continue to protect producer data held in their systems and use it only for disease response. (See report for additional details).
  6. Review and update existing exemptions for official identification requirements.
  7. Concerns about electronic ICVIs and other electronic movement records are a high priority . . . Stakeholders support consistent requirements; however, the State of destination should be responsible for determining the documents appropriate for collection and compliance of key traceability components for livestock arriving to that State.
  8. Address lack of uniformity of state importation regulations. 9 CFR Part 86 should provide the national standards for official ID and movement documentation. APHIS should continue revision of the regulations to increase standardization considering that eliminating various exemptions will lessen confusion and State differences.
  9. The working group feels there is value in considering a standard, or uniform, official eartag to increase awareness and understanding that it is unlawful to remove the tag. APHIS should conduct a study to determine the potential advantages and disadvantages of having one national ID eartag for cattle. The study should examine the merit a standardized tag might bring to ease of recognizing official tags and its effect on compliance. The study should also include cost comparisons of the use of numerous tag styles, sizes, etc. versus one standard, uniform tag. APHIS should review this information and, if having one uniform tag has significant advantages, publish the one tag concept for public comment through the Federal Register. The actual change, if pursued, would require rulemaking.
  10. The ability to maintain the identity of imported cattle is essential. As such, the working group recommends that APHIS allow the retagging of such animals with an official EID tag by revising the traceability regulation to define an “Import Tag” (with a specific range of AINs and tag color). For example, APHIS could reserve a range of 840 numbers starting with “8409” for use on these tags. To help distinguish “Import Tags” that have a panel component, the panel piece of the tag should include the text “Import”. This ID option would clearly identify animals tagged with an 840 Import Tag after importation to the United States; provide producers the option to use compatible EID technologies as preferred; and allows for re-tagging visual only tagged imported cattle with an 840 EID Import Tag (even if the visual only official tag of the exporting country is in the ear). Producers using UHF technology could use USDA approved UHF 840 tags or the USDA approved UHF NUES tags when the State Animal Health Official authorizes this option. The recordkeeping requirements for tagging imported animals would remain the same as currently written in 9 CFR Part 86 for retagging and adding a second official tag. The working group recommends that APHIS prohibit the use of visual only 840 tags in imported animals.
  11. Considerations related to official identification of beef feeders to include beef cattle under 18 18 month of age after additional analysis.

“Moving forward, USDA wants to continue to build on the current momentum around animal disease traceability, and will begin implementing these ADT goals starting in fiscal year 2019.”