Animal disease reporting rules expected for publication by end of 2022

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) announced in an organizational release¹ that the U.S. National List of Reportable Animal Diseases (NLRAD) is expected for publication sometime this year. The NLRAD was drafted in March 2020 by The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) with new rules and standards for reporting animal diseases.

The NLRAD regulations would add mandatory disease reporting across the U.S. with immediate notification to APHIS and state animal health officials.

In the release, APHIS spokesman Mike Stepien, stated, “The information gathered through NLRAD will provide a national baseline of animal disease across the U.S. and improve early disease detection and response, including emerging pathogens with zoonotic potential like SARS-CoV-2.”¹

APHIS officials plan to include 2 tiers of diseases. One tier is for notifiable diseases and conditions for which the agency will require immediate reports when veterinarians or other animal health professionals suspect or identify cases. The second tier is for monitored diseases that state agencies and animal health diagnostic laboratories will describe in monthly reports.¹

“If you suspect an emerging animal disease, you must report it as soon as you think an animal or groups of animals are infected,” the draft rule states. “This awareness may be through observation of case-compatible clinical signs, laboratory test–positive samples, or other knowledge of infection.”¹

While the contents of the proposed list are focused on farm animal diseases, it includes some diseases that affect companion animals, zoo animals, and wildlife, as well as endangered agricultural animals.

Some notifiable diseases listed by the NLRAD would include¹:

• Highly pathogenic avian influenza, an H5N1 strain which has killed tens of millions of poultry in an epizootic across much of North America this year.
• Chronic wasting disease, which is a neurodegenerative disease spreading among cervids across the U.S. and Canada.
• Rabbit hemorrhagic disease, which has killed unknown numbers of rabbits and hares in the Western U.S. in recent years.
• African swine fever, a highly contagious disease that can kill entire herds and emerged last year in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

“The purpose of the NLRAD is to have consistent animal disease reporting across the United States and to help animal health officials protect the U.S. agriculture infrastructure,” the draft standards state.¹

Reference

Cima, G. New animal disease reporting rules may arrive this year. News release. American Veterinary Medical Association. July 5, 2022. Accessed July 6, 2022. https://www.avma.org/news/new-animal-disease-reporting-rules-may-arrive-year?utm_source=delivra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=todays-headlines-news