[Senate Report 118-248]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 563
118th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 118-248
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A BILL TO PROVIDE PUBLIC HEALTH VETERINARY SERVICES TO INDIAN TRIBES
AND TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS FOR RABIES PREVENTION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
_______
November 18, 2024.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Schatz, from the Committee on Indian Affairs,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 4365]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the
bill, (S. 4365) to provide public health veterinary services to
Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations for rabies prevention,
and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports
favorably thereon with amendments and recommends that the bill,
as amended, do pass.
PURPOSE
S. 4365 would authorize the Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to use funds for
public health veterinary services and to assign or deploy
veterinary officers from the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS)
to prevent and control rabies and other zoonotic diseases\1\ in
Indian Health Service (IHS) Service areas where those diseases
are endemic in wildlife and there is risk of disease
transmission to domestic animals or humans.
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\1\Zoonotic diseases, or zoonoses, are diseases caused by harmful
germs that spread between animals and people. See About Zoonotic
Diseases, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://
www.cdc.gov/one-health/about/about-zoonotic-diseases.html.
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BACKGROUND AND NEED
Rural communities, including those on or near Tribal lands,
often face inadequate access to veterinary services, placing
them at increased risk of injury and exposure to zoonotic
diseases including rabies.\2\ The IHS does not currently employ
public health veterinarians or provide funding for rabies
vaccination or other veterinary care services, such as spaying
and neutering of uncontrolled dogs, that may reduce the risk of
exposure to zoonotic diseases.\3\ Consequently, Tribes and
Alaska Native Corporations are unable enter into Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA) contracts
or compacts with the IHS to provide such services.\4\
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\2\Facts about Diseases that Can Spread Between Animals and People,
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/
healthy-pets/diseases/index.html (last visited July 3, 2024).
\3\IHS interprets 25 U.S.C. 1601, et seq. and 25 U.S.C. 13 to
support its position that it lacks authority to hire veterinarians or
provide veterinary services, including spaying, neutering, and rabies
vaccinations.
\4\Pub. L. No. 93-638, 88 Stat. 2203 (1975).
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USPHS Commissioned Corps is one of the nation's eight
uniformed services.\5\ Public Health Service officers serve as
physicians, nurses, dentists, veterinarians, scientists,
engineers, environmental health officers, and other professions
across the federal government with the mission of advancing
public health nationwide. No officers currently serve as
veterinarians within any of the IHS service areas.\6\
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\5\See generally U.S. Public Health Service, https://www.usphs.gov/
(last visited July 3, 2024).
\6\Most USPHS Commissioned Corps officers serving as veterinarians
are stationed with the Department of Agriculture, the Centers for
Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, the National
Institutes of Health, or the National Park Service. See Where We Serve,
U.S. Public Health Service, https://www.usphs.gov/about-us (last
visited July 3, 2024). According to the Congressional Research Service,
there is one USPHS Commissioned Corps officer serving as a veterinarian
detailed to IHS, however, that officer serves in an administrative role
within IHS Headquarters. See generally Veterinarian, U.S. Public Health
Service, https://www.usphs.gov/professions/veterinarian (last visited
October 15, 2024).
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The USPHS has served as a liaison between the U.S. Army and
Tribes, transporting Army veterinary officers to reservations,
mainly to provide general veterinary care and rabies
vaccinations; however, these services do not typically extend
to more complicated services, such as spaying and neutering to
control dog populations.\7\ And because the IHS does not offer
veterinarian services, and the United States Department of
Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) is limited to controlling zoonotic diseases in wildlife
populations, Tribes rely on non-profit organizations, local
health organizations, and state lay vaccinator programs to
address public health risks stemming from zoonotic disease
transmission to domestic animal populations.\8\ As a result,
Tribes face limited and inconsistent access to veterinary care
services that could protect their communities from transmission
of zoonotic diseases and injuries, like rabies exposure through
dog bites. Studies show that Native children face
disproportionately higher rates of dog bite hospitalizations,
particularly in Alaska and the Southwest region, where rates
exceed the national average for children.\9\
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\7\Fort Sill Cannoneer staff, Soldiers help Tribes fight rabies,
U.S. Army (June 20, 2011), https://www.army.mil/article/60085/
soldiers_help_tribes_fight_rabies.
\8\See Legislative Hearing on S. 4365 Before the S. Comm. on Indian
Affs., 118th Cong. (2024) (statement of Brian Lefferts, Yukon Kuskokwim
Health Corporation); Legislative Hearing on S. 4365 Before the S. Comm.
on Indian Affs., 118th Cong. (2024) (statement of Melanie Egorin,
Department of Health and Human Services).
\9\Adam Bjork, Dog Bite Injuries among American Indian and Alaska
Native Children, 162 J. of Pediatrics 1270, 1271-72 (2013)
(highlighting the need for consistent veterinary services to address
injury prevention and rabies control in these communities).
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SUMMARY OF S. 4365 AS ORDERED REPORTED
S. 4365, as ordered reported, would authorize the Secretary
of HHS to use funds to provide public health veterinary
services directly by the agency or under ISDEAA contracts and
self-governance compacts. The legislation would also allow the
Secretary to assign or deploy veterinary officers from the
USPHS to prevent and control rabies and other zoonotic disease
transmission in IHS Service areas where the risk for disease
occurrence between humans, wildlife and domestic animals is
endemic.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF S. 4365 AS ORDERED REPORTED
Section 1--Short title
This section sets forth the short title as the ``Veterinary
Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act.''
Section 2--Sense of Congress
This section sets forth a sense of Congress that IHS and
HHS are uniquely suited to address zoonotic disease threats in
Native communities by providing public health veterinary
services.
Section 3--Public Health Veterinary Services
This section amends the Indian Health Care Improvement Act
(IHCIA) by adding a new section, titled ``Public Health
Veterinary Services.'' This new section--
Establishes definitions for public health
veterinary services and zoonotic diseases;
Authorizes the Secretary of HHS, acting
through the IHS, to expend funds for public health
veterinary services to prevent and control zoonotic
disease infection and transmission in IHS service areas
where the risk for disease occurrence in humans and
wildlife is endemic--directly or through self-
determination contracts or self-governance compacts;
Authorizes the Secretary of HHS to assign or
deploy veterinary public health officers from the
Commissioned Corps of the USPHS to IHS Service areas;
Authorizes the Secretary of HHS to
coordinate and implement activities with the Director
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
and the Secretary of Agriculture; and
Directs the Secretary of HHS to submit a
biennial report to Congress on program implementation.
Section 4--APHIS wildlife services study on oral rabies vaccines in
Arctic regions of the United States
This section requires the Secretary of Agriculture to
conduct a feasibility study within one year of enactment of the
Act on the delivery of oral rabies vaccines to wildlife
reservoir species directly connected to the transmission of
rabies to Tribal members living in Arctic regions of the United
States, on the efficacy of these vaccines, and on
recommendations to improve delivery of these vaccines. This
study will focus on the identified wildlife reservoir species,
including the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), in the Arctic
regions of Alaska.
Section 5--One Health Framework
This section amends the Prepare for and Respond to Existing
Viruses, Emerging New Threats, and Pandemics Act by--
Directing the Secretary of HHS, acting
through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control
(CDC), to coordinate with the Director of the IHS (in
addition to the Secretary of Agriculture and the
Secretary of the Interior) and develop the federal
government's One Health framework.\10\
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\10\In 2009, the CDC's One Health Office was established and
located within the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious
Diseases at CDC. The One Health Office works with partners to prevent
the spread of zoonotic diseases, to respond to outbreaks and public
health emergencies, and to protect people from diseases that can be
transmitted from pets. See About CDC's One Health Office, Center for
Disease Control, https://www.cdc.gov/one-health/php/about/index.html
(last visited July 3, 2024).
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LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
On May 16, 2024, Senator Murkowski (R-AK) introduced S.
4365, the Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural
Communities Act. On the same day, the Senate referred the bill
to the Committee on Indian Affairs. Senators Schatz (D-HI) and
Heinrich (D-NM) later joined as co-sponsors. On July 10, 2024,
the Committee held a legislative hearing to receive testimony
on the bill. On July 25, 2024, the Committee met at a duly
convened business meeting to consider the bill. Senator
Murkowski and Senator Schatz timely filed an amendment striking
the bill's findings; clarifying that the Secretary of HHS may
assign or deploy veterinary public health officers from the
Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service to IHS Service
areas when necessary; and allowing HHS to coordinate and
implement activities with the CDC and USDA. The Committee
ordered S. 4365 reported favorably with an amendment.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires the
Congressional Budget Office, to the extent practicable, to
prepare estimates of the budgetary effects of legislation
ordered reported by Congressional authorizing committees. In
order to provide the Congress with as much information as
possible, the attached table summarizes information about the
estimated direct spending and revenue effects of some of the
legislation that has been ordered reported by the Senate
Committee on Indian Affairs during the 118th Congress. The
legislation listed in this table generally would have small
effects, if any, on direct spending or revenues, CBO estimates.
Where possible, the table also provides information about the
legislation's estimated effects on spending subject to
appropriation and on intergovernmental and private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
ESTIMATED BUDGETARY EFFECTS AND MANDATES INFORMATION
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Spending subject Pay-As-You-Go Budgetary
Bill Title Status Last action Budget function Direct spending, Revenues, 2025- to appropriations, procedures effects Mandates Contact
number 2025-2034 2034 2025-2029 apply? after 2034
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S. 4365 Veterinary Ordered rep 07/25/24 550 0 0 Not estimated No No No Robert
Services to orted Stewart
Improve Publi
c Health in
Rural Communi
ties Act
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S. 4365 would authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Indian Health Service (IHS), to expend funds for public health veterinary services to prevent and control
zoonotic disease infection and transmission in IHS service areas where the risk for disease occurrence in humans and wildlife is endemic. CBO estimates that enacting S. 4365 would not affect
direct spending or revenues. CBO has not estimated the bill's effects on spending subject to appropriation. The bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in
the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act.
Regulatory and Paperwork Impact Statement
Paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the
Senate requires each report accompanying a bill to evaluate the
regulatory and paperwork impact that would be incurred in
carrying out the bill. The Committee believes that S. 4365 will
have minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork requirements.
EXECUTIVE TESTIMONY
Written statement of Dr. Melanie Anne Egorin, Assistant
Secretary for Legislation, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs,
July 10, 2024, follows below:
Good afternoon Chair Schatz, Vice Chair Murkowski, and
Members of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to
provide testimony on an important legislative proposal before
your Committee, and for your continued support of the Indian
Health Service (IHS) and efforts from the Department of Health
and Human Services to improve the health and well-being of
American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN). Your consideration
today of S. 4365, the Veterinary Services to Improve Public
Health in Rural Communities Act underscores that commitment to
improving the quality of life in Indian Country.
I am Melanie Anne Egorin, the Assistant Secretary for
Legislation (ASL) at the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS or Department). My office serves as the primary
link between the Department and Congress. The Office of the ASL
provides technical assistance on legislation to Members of
Congress and their staff, facilitates informational briefings
relating to Department programs to support policy development
by Congress, and supports implementation of legislation passed
by Congress. It is a pleasure to join the Committee again, as
we work together to combat the public health challenges in
tribal communities.
Background
The Department and the IHS agree that the increase of
injuries and zoonotic disease spread by domesticated and wild
animals in Indian Country represents a significant public
health issue for tribal members in these rural communities.
There are an estimated 70 million stray dogs and cats in the
U.S., Tribal Lands, and territories, which contribute to
traumatic events and injuries, zoonotic disease spread, and
road traffic accidents. In recent years, free-roaming domestic
animals have contributed to rabies outbreaks on Tribal lands,
human deaths due to zoonotic diseases, and severe injury and
death due to mauling.
The Department is working as a whole through diverse
offices and mission areas to address the public health concerns
related to zoonotic diseases, including rabies. The IHS already
coordinates with and assists tribes with animal population
control efforts to the extent practicable within its
authorities. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) and the Commissioned Corps of the United
States Public Health Service (USPHS) help to lead Department
efforts on the national surveillance of and education about
rabies and other zoonotic diseases.
The IHS operates its mission, in partnership with AI/AN
tribal communities, through a network of over 600 federal and
tribal health facilities and 41 Urban Indian Organizations that
are located across 37 states and provide health care services
to approximately 2.87 million AI/AN people annually.
As you may know, appropriated funds to the IHS are used to
provide health care to IHS-eligible AI/ANs--the IHS' defined
service population. The Department and the IHS have worked hard
to prioritize resources provided by Congress to ensure that
patients have access to accessible--and affordable--quality
care. The IHS works hard every day to ensure that limited
resources are used wisely to ensure the greatest impact on its
defined service population--from direct care services to
sanitation and facilities construction, and health care
facilities construction.
While it recognizes the importance of this emerging threat
to Indian Country, the IHS has to balance its limited resources
to deliver direct services to its defined population while
combating a number of unique public health issues facing Indian
Country, including the fentanyl and opioid crisis, the maternal
mortality crisis, domestic and interpersonal violence, and high
diabetes rates--to name a few. The Biden Harris Administration
has advocated for additional resources to combat these growing
threats in Indian Country and is committed to fighting to
reduce health disparities impacting tribal members.
IHS Health Issues Related to Rabies Incidents in Rural Communities
The IHS has examined first-hand and heard directly from
tribes about the real public health risk from the high rates of
dog bite injuries in AI/AN communities. Over the past five
years, there have been over 200 patients hospitalized from dog
bite injuries or attacks at IHS clinics. The Navajo and Alaska
Areas have had the highest number of bites requiring
hospitalizations. During that same period, there were over
24,000 patients receiving ambulatory care from dog bites. The
Navajo, Alaska, Great Plains, and Phoenix Areas have had the
highest numbers of bite-related hospitalizations over the last
5 years.
The IHS has also heard from tribes--especially from those
in Northern Alaska--who are desperate for assistance addressing
the problem at its source. A multitude of challenges have
created a perfect storm for risk of injury and disease spread
from animals in especially rural areas. AI/ANs living on
reservations often have little to no access to veterinary care.
Gaps exist in the availability of free rabies vaccines to rural
pets, resulting in a higher risk of rabies exposure in humans
and animals. The lack of regular parasite control for pets in
these areas has led to an increased risk of exposure to
transmissible parasites to human beings. There is also a lack
of access to veterinary spay-neuter surgery to reduce unplanned
litters, which has led to an overpopulation of strays and
abandoned dogs--thus increasing exposure to disease, parasite
infestation, and dog bites.
The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act
(ISDEAA) only authorizes contracts for certain programs
prescribed by Congress. As the Committee knows, the IHS'
foundational purpose is to provide health care for AI/ANs. IHS'
authorizing statutes do not currently convey authority to carry
out veterinary services. As IHS does not have the authority,
there is no authority for a tribal health program to add the
activity to its ISDEAA agreement.
HHS Public Health Surveillance, Education, and Partnerships
Within their authorities, the IHS, the CDC, and USPHS
collaborate in careful coordination with other tribal, federal,
state, county, and external partners to reduce the risk of
zoonotic disease spread in Indian Country. The IHS Division of
Environmental Health Services staff work on surveillance,
training, and capacity building, and have been involved for
decades with novel vector borne and zoonotic diseases not
previously identified in Indian Country. This Division has
implemented Hantavirus and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
prevention strategies, conducted arbovirus surveillance and
risk reduction strategies, and assisted tribal communities in
the development of and adoption of lay vaccinator programs for
rabies virus. It has also coordinated with outside partners to
facilitate the delivery of spay, neuter, and rabies clinics for
domestic dogs and cats. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Animal and Plant Inspection Service has collaborated with the
IHS Division of Environmental Health Services at the local
level as needed on zoonotic disease prevention or risk factor
reduction projects.
The CDC collects data on domestic human rabies cases and
conducts near real-time animal rabies surveillance in 54
jurisdictions, including Alaska, through the National Rabies
Surveillance System. No Tribal communities have their own
rabies laboratories and therefore they rely on relevant state
laboratories for all testing. This may present a barrier to
sample collection, testing, and reporting, which further
obscures the burden of rabies in these communities. The CDC has
conducted several surveillance evaluations to characterize
rabies risks in Tribal Lands. In several high-risk Tribal
communities in the southwestern U.S., rabies testing and
reporting rates are up to 15-times lower compared to their
adjacent non-Tribal communities.
An evaluation of the risk of rabies re-introduction into
the U.S. found that the highest risk is in Tribal Lands where
free roaming dog populations remain a major public health
issue. It was found that the Navajo Nation is home to
approximately 250,000 free roaming dogs, with many remaining
unvaccinated against rabies. Rabies risk mapping performed by
CDC, which considers road connectivity, urbanicity, and human-
to-unvaccinated dog ratios found that up to 185,000
unvaccinated dogs likely reside in areas that could support and
sustain dog-to-dog transmission of rabies. This highlights the
realistic potential for reintroduction of dog-mediated rabies
or spillover from local rabies reservoir wildlife in the Navajo
Nation. These findings likely reflect similar vulnerabilities
in other Tribal Lands across the United States.
S. 4365, Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural
Communities Act
The Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural
Communities Act would amend the Indian Health Care Improvement
Act to combat zoonotic disease outbreaks and advance public
health preparedness for Native communities, Alaska Native
villages, or Indian reservations, including by providing spay
and neuter services and vaccinations for animals.
S. 4365 would authorize the Secretary to expend funds for
public health veterinary services to prevent and control
zoonotic disease infection and transmission in IHS Service
areas where the risk for disease occurrence in humans and
wildlife is endemic. The bill would also enable the Secretary
to deploy veterinary public health officers from USPHS to IHS
Service areas to combat, prevent and control zoonotic disease
infection and transmission in IHS Service areas where the risk
is endemic.
The proposed legislation also mandates the Secretary and
IHS to coordinate with the Director of the CDC, and the
Secretary of Agriculture. Further, the bill would require the
Secretary of HHS to submit to certain Committees in Congress on
a biennial basis, a report on the use of funds, the assignment
and deployment of veterinary public health officers from the
USPHS, data related to the monitoring and disease surveillance
of zoonotic diseases, and related services provided under the
proposed legislation. Finally, S. 4365 would amend the Prepare
for and Respond to Existing Viruses, Emerging New Threats, and
Pandemics Act, to include the Director of the IHS, in the ``One
Health framework.''
Controlling the pet population would decrease the incidence
of dog bites, which have caused an increase of injuries and
deaths on Tribal Lands. This bill would potentially limit the
incidence and spread of zoonotic diseases and also allow people
to walk safely in their communities. The Department shares the
same goal as the drafters--to combat zoonotic disease spreading
in IHS Service areas and ensure that tribal members throughout
Indian Country are protected with robust public health outbreak
prevention. Like the bill's drafters, the Department and IHS
are looking to improve response to any zoonotic related disease
and improve safety in tribal communities.
That being said, the bill, in its current form, does not
include any additional resources for the Department to stand up
a new program without compromising its efforts to provide
direct care or combat other emergent public health challenges
in Indian Country. The legislation could include language to
authorize such sums that may be necessary to provide these
services in Indian Country and the Appropriations Committees
could then be able to decide whether to fund these new
activities.
We look forward to continuing our work with Congress on
improving the health of AI/AN populations including the issues
related to this bill. As always, HHS welcomes the opportunity
to provide technical assistance as requested by the Committee
or its members.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today, and I
am happy to answer any questions the Committee may have.
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Written Testimony of Dr. Michael Watson, Administrator of
the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department
of Agriculture follows below:
Thank you for the opportunity to provide written testimony
to discuss our rabies management program and S. 4365, the
Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural
Communities Act.
Rabies is a serious disease of wildlife in the United
States that can have a significant impact on human and animal
health. If left untreated, it has a 100% fatality rate in
humans and kills almost 60,000 people around the world each
year. Thankfully, compulsory pet vaccination laws and mass
vaccination campaigns have eliminated the canine variant of
rabies from wild and domestic animals in the United States.
However, there are several other variants in wildlife,
including raccoon rabies in the east and Arctic fox rabies in
Alaska.
Since 1997, acting through its Wildlife Services program,
the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and its
National Rabies Management Program have led Federal efforts to
control the virus in wildlife, thereby protecting domestic
animals and the public. APHIS activities include:
Conducting enhanced rabies surveillance as a
complement to public health surveillance to better
understand where the disease is, allowing us to better
focus our control and elimination efforts.
Distribution of oral rabies vaccines to
create a zone free of disease and moving these rabies-
free zones appropriately.
Conducting research to increase scientific
knowledge and to better inform rabies management
strategies.
Coordinating on effective strategies for
rabies elimination with all partners, collaborators,
and stakeholders in the U.S. and with partner agencies
in Canada and Mexico.
The oral rabies vaccination program is the key to expanding
U.S. rabies-free zones. Each year, APHIS drops approximately 8
million oral rabies vaccination baits in 13 eastern states,
from Maine to Alabama, creating a rabies-free zone that
prevents the spread of raccoon rabies further westward.
In urban and suburban areas, APHIS and cooperators
distribute vaccine bait by helicopter or vehicles. In rural
areas, APHIS typically distributes vaccine bait from a plane.
When a raccoon bites into the vaccine bait, the packet
ruptures, allowing the vaccine to coat the animal's mouth and
throat. Animals that receive an adequate dose of the vaccine
develop antibodies against rabies. As the number of vaccinated
animals in a population increases, disease transmission
decreases, creating an ``immunity barrier'' to stop the further
spread of rabies.
Although raccoon vaccination is our largest rabies
prevention effort, APHIS helped the Texas Department of State
Health Services successfully eliminate canine rabies in coyotes
in 2004. Our efforts using oral rabies vaccination also reduced
the spread and eventually eliminated a unique variant of the
disease in gray foxes. In Arizona, APHIS works on a variety of
collaborative rabies research and management projects focused
on gray foxes, skunks, and bats, as well as free-ranging dogs
on tribal lands.
Alaska has a unique variant of rabies in Artic foxes. It
has a broad circumpolar distribution throughout North America,
Europe, and Asia. In Alaska, rabies outbreaks routinely occur
during winter and the number of red foxes with this variant has
increased over the past decade. This observation, along with
modeling, suggests regional warming trends may be associated
with increased contact rates and transmission between Arctic
and red foxes. We currently do not have a rabies vaccination
program targeting Arctic foxes due in part to the remote
geographic area this variant encompasses. There are also
challenges with Arctic fox behavior, including their large home
ranges, distance they travel, and varying behavior in summer
and winter.
But the bill before us today understands these challenges
and would accordingly direct APHIS to conduct a more in-depth
study of the viability of a wildlife rabies control program in
Arctic regions. This would allow us to work with our state,
tribal, and other partners to identify the potential barriers
for a successful program and possible mitigations for those
impediments.
Ontario, Canada, successfully eliminated Arctic fox rabies
in red foxes in southern Ontario, but the situation in Alaska
will be different. Better understanding the unique challenges
of Alaska, the different species involved and their ecology,
will be important. In Alaska, we would most likely need to use
selective intervention with oral rabies vaccine in and around
remote communities. This will not eliminate arctic fox rabies
in red foxes or Arctic foxes, but instead would likely be part
of an integrated rabies prevention and control strategy carried
out in cooperation with the Indian Health Service and other
partners.
A few thoughts and concerns for consideration:
The study focuses on potential management
strategies to reduce the risk of transmission to Tribal
members in Arctic regions, which would only include the
northernmost parts of the state, and probably excluding
fox populations in other areas of the state.
The study targets fox species, but we know
that the disease is also transmitted through domestic
animals, such as unowned or difficult to capture dogs.
We have had success with orally vaccinating dogs in
other areas including free ranging dogs. Implementation
of similar strategies could strengthen rabies
prevention and control efforts in remote communities.
While we appreciate the study, it is very
likely to identify the need for a valuable program to
protect the health and safety of native Alaskans.
However, without resources for a program, it is highly
unlikely that APHIS will be able to implement a program
that stands any chance of success. Further, diverting
resources from other regions could potentially erase
years of success with virus control and local
elimination elsewhere.
Under the sections authorizing the use of
public health officers, it may be helpful to include
mention of USDA or APHIS such that future control
activities could be coordinated or conducted with
assistance from our Wildlife Services program.
Thank you again for the opportunity to discuss this
important program.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The Committee has received no communications from the
Executive Branch regarding S. 4365.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
On February 9, 2023, the Committee unanimously approved a
motion to waive subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing
Rules of the Senate. In the opinion of the Committee, it is
necessary to dispense with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate to expedite the business of the
Senate.