[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 214 (Friday, November 3, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66226-66227]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-28247]


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 Notices
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 214 / Friday, November 3, 2000 / 
Notices  

[[Page 66226]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 00-099-1]


Notice of Request for Approval of an Information Collection

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: New information collection; comment request.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's 
intention to initiate the Bluetongue Surveillance Pilot Project 
sentinel trial, which will be an information collection activity. The 
purpose of the sentinel trial, which will be voluntary, is to support 
international export trade through the identification and development 
of an economically feasible and highly representative surveillance 
system to substantiate the regionalization of the United States for 
bluetongue. The sentinel trial will take place on farms in Montana, 
Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

DATES: We invite you to comment on this docket. We will consider all 
comments that we receive by January 2, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Please send four copies (an original and three copies) of 
your comment to: Docket No. 00-099-1, Regulatory Analysis and 
Development, PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your comment refers to 
Docket No. 00-099-1.
    You may read any comments that we receive on this docket in our 
reading room. The reading room is located in room 1141 of the USDA 
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, 
DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you, 
please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.
    APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related 
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who 
have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the Bluetongue 
Surveillance Pilot Program sentinel trial, contact Ms. Marj Swanson, 
Management Analyst, Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health, VS, 
APHIS, 555 S. Howes, Fort Collins, CO 80521; (970) 490-7978. For copies 
of more detailed information on the information collection, contact 
Mrs. Celeste Sickles, APHIS' Information Collection Coordinator, at 
(301) 734-7477.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Bluetongue Surveillance Pilot Program.
    OMB Number: 0579-XXXX.
    Type of Request: Approval of a new information collection.
    Abstract: The United States Department of Agriculture is 
responsible for protecting the health of our Nation's animals and 
poultry by preventing the spread of contagious, infectious, or 
communicable animal diseases from one State to another and by 
eradicating such diseases from the United States when feasible. In 
connection with this mission, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS), Veterinary Services, Center for Animal Health 
Monitoring, is requesting approval to initiate the Bluetongue 
Surveillance Pilot Program (BSPP) sentinel trial information collection 
activity.
    Bluetongue viruses are transmitted by blood-feeding midges 
(Culicoides spp.), which breed in cattle manure and transmit the 
viruses between hosts, which include antelope, cattle, deer, elk, 
goats, and sheep. Cattle are infected naturally by these viruses but 
rarely show clinical signs. However, sheep and other ruminants show 
signs of the disease, including abortion, birth defects, emaciation, 
ulcers in the digestive system and mouth, lameness, pneumonia, and 
death. Twenty-four serotypes of bluetongue virus are distributed 
throughout the tropical and temperate regions of the world; except for 
Greece and Italy on occasion, Europe is bluetongue virus-free. The 
viruses and vectors (insects) have evolved to establish well-defined 
regional complexes of selected serotypes adapted to specific midge 
populations. In the United States, four serotypes of bluetongue virus 
are known to occur; however, their range is restricted to Western and 
Southern States. This is the result of climatic and ecologic conditions 
that determine the distribution of the North American vector, 
Culicoides sonorensis.
    Bluetongue is an Office International des Epizooties (OIE) List A 
disease. The criteria for inclusion on this list are transmissibility, 
potential for serious and rapid spread, and major economic importance 
in the international trade of animals and animal products. For these 
reasons, countries, especially those entirely free of bluetongue, take 
action to minimize the risk of introducing exotic serotypes of the 
virus, thus restricting trade. These restrictions are estimated to cost 
the United States $125 million annually (USDA Agricultural Research 
Service, 1999).
    The current method of bluetongue surveillance tests blood samples 
taken from animals at the time of slaughter through the APHIS Market 
Cattle Identification (MCI) system. Every 2 years, slaughter samples 
are tested from 18 Northeastern and North Central States, Alaska, 
Hawaii, and western Washington, which are considered to be free of 
bluetongue. In the MCI slaughter survey in 1996, 9,053 slaughter 
samples were tested. Four of the 14 geographic areas sampled had 2 
percent or greater positive samples, which exceeds the OIE standard and 
leads to restrictions on the export of animals from those areas. 
Slaughter surveillance as the method for bluetongue surveillance has 
limited specificity and geographic representativeness with regard to 
the demands of international trade. Detection of low levels of 
bluetongue antibody may reflect animal movement rather than disease 
occurrence at the sampling locations, as the life history of the 
animals sampled is unknown.
    The purpose of the BSPP sentinel trial is to support international 
export trade through the identification and development of an 
economically feasible and more representative surveillance system to 
substantiate the

[[Page 66227]]

regionalization of bluetongue. The BSPP sentinel trial is a 
surveillance methodology development activity. In the surveillance 
trial, specific sentinel animals and farms will be tested serologically 
over time in contrast to the randomized on-farm and slaughter market 
surveillance currently practiced. Neither one-time, on-farm nor 
slaughter market surveillance allows animals to be tracked over time, 
and the geographic history of the origin of the animals is difficult to 
establish with consistent reliability.
    The Center for Animal Health Monitoring is proposing the BSPP 
sentinel trial, which will use active serosurveillance, adult insect 
trapping, and soil sampling for insect larvae from suspect vector 
breeding sites. The objectives of this study include: (1) Develop a 
pilot sentinel system as a tool to substantiate disease freedom and 
compare it to other surveillance options; (2) test for bluetongue 
status in two demarcated populations (free and infected); and (3) 
develop data on the epidemiology of bluetongue in a seasonally infected 
area.
    The ideal choice of States is a contiguous north-south group, 
(e.g., Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska) that 
transects the border between the disease-free (North Dakota) and the 
seasonally affected zone (Montana and Nebraska) with a transitional 
State (South Dakota) having both free and infected zones. This provides 
a continuous gradient of environmental determinants of vector 
distribution that can be measured when moving from north to south.
    The Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement of the World Trade 
Organization provides that countries can create disease-free and low-
prevalence zones. Determination of such areas must be based on factors 
such as geography, ecosystems, epidemiological surveillance, and the 
effectiveness of sanitary and phytosanitary controls. Further, it is up 
to the exporting country to develop a regionalization proposal with 
sufficient information to substantiate zoning for a disease. The 
importing country is charged with reviewing the proposal and providing 
a transparent and science-based decision. In the case of bluetongue, a 
vector-borne disease, it is largely the ecology of the vector that 
determines the distribution of the disease.
    The potential benefits to trade from better bluetongue surveillance 
include access to new export markets and preservation of existing 
markets through increased confidence in disease freedom.
    Information from this study will be disseminated and used by 
livestock producers, animal health officials, private veterinary 
practitioners, animal industry groups, policymakers, public health 
officials, the media, educational institutions, and others to improve 
agricultural productivity and competitiveness.
    Participation in the BPSS sentinel trial is voluntary, and all data 
are confidential.
    We are asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve 
the use of this information collection activity.
    The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments from the public 
(as well as affected agencies) concerning this information collection. 
These comments will help us:
    (1) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
    (2) Evaluate the accuracy of our estimate of the burden of the 
information collection, including the validity of the methodology and 
assumptions used;
    (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    (4) Minimize the burden of the information collection on those who 
are to respond, through use, as appropriate, of automated, electronic, 
mechanical, and other collection technologies, e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses.
    Estimate of burden: The public reporting burden for this collection 
of information is estimated to average .93814 hours per response.
    Respondents: Industry personnel, private veterinary practitioners, 
company and independent producers, academicians, State veterinary 
medical officers, and State public health officials.
    Estimated annual number of respondents: 1,365.
    Estimated annual number of responses per respondent: 1.06593.
    Estimated annual number of responses: 1,455.
    Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 1,373 hours. (Due to 
rounding, the total annual burden hours may not equal the product of 
the annual number of responses multiplied by the average reporting 
burden per response.)
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of 
public record.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 30th day of October 2000.
Bobby R. Acord,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 00-28247 Filed 11-2-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P