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Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
2301 N. Cameron St.
Harrisburg, PA 17110-9408

General Information
717-787-4737

Bureau of Animal Health
Director: Dr. Craig Schultz
717-772-2852
Mary Martin 717-783-5309

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UPDATES AND REMINDERS FROM THE PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 11/22/10

The Department would like to remind you of certain requirements regarding the Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) program and update you on certain changes to the program.

Current:
Under the current Quarantine Order, Herd Certification Program (HCP) participants who fail to meet the requirements of the program may be issued citations or civil penalties.

Proposed:
Once the new Quarantine Order goes into effect, the herds not in compliance may also lose status in the CWD program (see paragraph below from the proposed new order).

Changes of program for enrolled herds. Herds enrolled in the CWD Herd Certification Program that fail to meet the program requirements for mandatory testing (paragraph 8(d)), identification of subject animals (paragraph 8(g)), ongoing record-keeping requirement (paragraph 8(h)), or any other aspect of the HCP Program may be removed from enrollment in the HCP program and may be enrolled in a level of the CWD Herd Monitored Program as determined by the Department.

You can lose status now by not being in compliance with the program requirements with your status being lowered in the HCP. There have been several herds that status has been dropped. You should be very careful when purchasing your deer. You can call Mary Martin to check on the status.

Intrastate transportation of live cervids

Current:
Under the current Order, Herd Monitored Program (HMP) participants may only transport live cervids to a shooting preserve or slaughter facility after the herd has tested at least 30 animals for CWD and found them all to be negative.

Proposed:
We have changed our stance on this and have written into the new order that live cervids may be transported intrastate to a shooting preserve or slaughter facility without having to meet the CWD testing requirement. The new Order is not legally binding at this time since it has not yet been published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin but the Department will allow the above mentioned movements while the Order becomes official. Please remember the requirement to have these animals officially identified prior to transport and to include in your inventory when the animal left, the ID of the Cervid and where it went.

Also, if you are enrolled in the HCP program and cannot meet the identification requirements, you may choose to switch to the HMP by filling out a new CWD application.

Escapes

We would like to remind all of the CWD program participants that any captive cervids which escape or are removed from a herd, or any wild CWD-susceptible cervids which gain entrance into a captive herd must be reported to the Department immediately.

If the escaped cervid is returned into a HCP herd within one week of the escape, there will be no change in status of the herd. If the cervid is out for more than a week and put back into the HCP herd, the status of the herd will go to first year and the anniversary date will become the date the cervid was returned to the HCP herd. You should also contact your local PA Game Commision office to report the escape to them and avoid a possible fine.

One other option to consider if the cervid is not captured within one week would be to place the deer into a separate herd and start another herd with first year status thus maintaining the status of the existing herd.

We appreciate the efforts of all the deer farmers that have taken the time to learn the responsibilities of the CWD program and getting their herds in compliance (having official id, testing for CWD, annual inventory submitted, prompt reporting of escapes and untestables).

The department has made every effort to notify owners of cervids to contact us in the event of escapes or untestables, therefore, status will be lowered to the date of the occurrence for future escapes/untestables that are not reported immediately.

Reporting death losses

The Department would also like to remind all cervid farmers that any time they discover a dead captive cervid that qualifies as an animal that should be tested for CWD they need to contact their regional veterinarian immediately so that we can decide if that cervid is testable.

Reporting fawns

Please put your fawn additions on the inventory sheets the year they are born that you submit your annual report. For example, if your inventory is due November 2009, the 09 fawns must be on it. If your inventory is due March 2010, the 09 fawns should be on it. A lot of times, inventory reports do not show the fawns until the following year. This is unacceptable due to the fact that when they are sold, the person may submit their inventory before you do. All fawns must be included, even if the fawn is given away and not sold.

Premise Identification

Please note the premise identification number next to the name of the person you are buying or selling your animals to. This will be helpful in making sure the animals get placed in the right inventory.

Official Identification

The deadline for HCP participants to have their animals identified with two forms of identification (one official and a farm tag that is unique and individual to the animal and herd or two official) was June 1, 2009. There are still herds that are not in compliance. These herds will be notified of the date their status will be lowered due to non compliance. As a reminder, you can switch to HMP if you cannot meet this requirement IF you do not move your animals anywhere but to a preserve or slaughter facility.

Thank you for working with the Department of Agriculture to maintain a nationally respected CWD surveillance program in captive cervids within the Commonwealth.