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Brucellosis Eradication Task Force
Support for Funding
POSITION
STATEMENT:
The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) supports core funding
for the APHIS Brucellosis budget request. Core funding should be
designated to absorb and continue to allocate funds and resources now
appropriated under brucellosis in order to maintain and strengthen an
adequately validated, comprehensive surveillance activity including
uniform identification system and assures depopulation funding necessary
to continue the brucellosis eradication effort on an emergency basis for a
period of at least five years after free status is achieved. Affirmed:
2000 |
Reaffirmed: 2001 |
Amended: 2002 | Reaffirmed:
2003 |
Reaffirmed: 2004
Recommended Actions Needed to Eliminate Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area
POSITION
STATEMENT: The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) supports
legislation that would give USDA primary authority to eliminate
brucellosis in bison and elk and would require cooperation of the
Department of Interior, National Park Service including: (i)
the Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee (GYIBC) made up
of representatives of state and federal agencies; any committee
recommendation should be scientifically sound and defensible by accepted
principles of veterinary epidemiology and pathogenesis of brucellosis in
ruminants; (ii)
gathering, sharing and analysis of current information, both published and
unpublished, regarding comparative microbiology, immunology and
epidemiology of brucellosis in wild and domestic ruminants; (iii)
using all current technologies for brucellosis control and elimination to
begin implementation immediately of a scientifically sound program
oriented toward elimination of brucellosis from herds of bison and elk in
the Greater Yellowstone Area; (iv)
prevention of removal of bison from national parks in Greater Yellowstone
Area, except direct to slaughter, approved research facility, or through
quarantine facilities and testing protocols developed by APHIS Veterinary
Services, to insure that the animals are disease free, and in no way
compromise the progress made toward complete elimination of brucellosis
from the U.S. Affirmed: 2000 | Reaffirmed: 2001 | Amended: 2002 | Amended: 2003 | Reaffirmed: 2004 | Amended: 2005
Vaccine Use in Final Phase
BACKGROUND:
The appropriate use of brucella vaccines varies widely from area to area,
depending upon risk factors, regional preference, and the stage of the
eradication program. POSITION
STATEMENT:
The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) supports the
following three-point policy on calf hood vaccination be adopted by USDA.
Policy on calfhood vaccination for brucellosis: 1.
Educate herd owners and veterinary practitioners regarding vaccination so
their decisions on its use will reflect the advantages, disadvantages, and
appropriateness in the herd under consideration. 2.
Limit federal funding for the purchase and application of brucella vaccine
to infected or designated high-risk herds. 3.
Emphasize the importance of proper calfhood vaccination as related to age,
dosage, identification and reporting. Affirmed:
2000 |
Reaffirmed: 2001 |
Reaffirmed: 2002 | Reaffirmed:
2003 |
Reaffirmed: 2004
Brucellosis Elimination in Greater Yellowstone Area
BACKGROUND:
The policy of natural regulation by the Department of Interior, National
Park Service, in Yellowstone National Park, has led to environmental
degradation of the park with the consequential problems of loss of species
(both plant and animal), progression toward desertification, brucellosis
exacerbation, and overpopulation with large ungulates (bison and elk)
resulting in annual starvation of hundreds of animals. The Department of
the Interior and the National Park Service have agreed in principle to
population control, but implementation of such measures has not occurred
because of abuses of the National Environmental Policy Act. Efforts by
state animal health and fish and game officials and USDA, through the
Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee, to develop and
implement effective brucellosis control and elimination efforts in
Yellowstone National Park and the Greater Yellowstone Area have been
stymied by the policy of natural regulation. The feeding of bison and elk,
by the Department of Interior, on the National Elk Refuge has resulted in
an artificially high population of bison and elk and a high
sero-prevelance of brucellosis in Grand Teton National Park bison and elk
populations. The acquisition of additional lands for bison outside
Yellowstone National Park will not resolve the overpopulation problem, nor
address the brucellosis issue. POSITION
STATEMENT:
The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) opposes the
acquisition of additional lands for wildlife and strongly urges the
National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to continue to
remain involved in active management of animal and plant species in
Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and the National Elk
Refuge, to protect the environment, prevent overpopulation within the
existing park boundaries and control diseases including brucellosis. NIAA
strongly urges continued cooperation between the Department of Agriculture
and the Department of Interior to develop and implement active disease
control efforts, designed to lead to elimination of brucellosis from the
susceptible animal populations under its control in the Greater
Yellowstone Area, and all national park lands in the United States. NIAA
urges all members and member organizations to communicate to the President
of the United States and the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture the
urgency for actions that will protect our national treasures of
Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and the National Elk
Refuge from environmental degradation, wildlife disease and starvation in
the Greater Yellowstone Area. Approved:
2000 |
Reaffirmed: 2001 |
Amended: 2002 | Amended: 2003
| Amended: 2004
Free
Ranging Species Research
BACKGROUND:
There has been marked lack of funding for researching methods to prevent,
control, manage and eliminate disease processes in free ranging species
occurring as a result of natural exposure and/or introduction by a
bioterrorist. RESOLUTION:
The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) urges Congress to
allocate additional funds and resources to USDA, APHIS and other
cooperating governmental entities necessary to develop effective
procedures and products for use in brucellosis elimination from elk,
bison, feral/wild swine populations and reindeer. Approved:
2000 |
Reaffirmed: 2001 |
Reaffirmed: 2002 | Amended: 2003
| Reaffirmed: 2004
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