[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 188 (Thursday, September 27, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49342-49343]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-24192]


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 Notices
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  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 188 / Thursday, September 27, 2001 / 
Notices  

[[Page 49342]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Office of the Secretary

[Docket No. 01-019-1]


Declaration of Emergency Because of Chronic Wasting Disease

    Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a disease of deer and elk, is part 
of a group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform 
encephalopathies (TSE's), a group that also includes scrapie and bovine 
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). While considered rare, the incidence 
of CWD is on the rise among both wild and domestic cervids. The 
disease, which occurs mostly in adult animals, is progressive and 
always fatal. The origin and mode of transmission of CWD are unknown. 
The disease has become of particular concern due to its fatal nature, 
lack of known prevention or treatment, its impact on the farmed cervid 
industry, and its possible transmissibility to cattle or other domestic 
livestock and humans.
    CWD is known to be endemic in free-ranging deer and elk in a 
limited area in the western United States. Officials have detected it 
in free-ranging deer and elk in southeastern Wyoming, northeastern 
Colorado, and southwestern Nebraska. State departments of wildlife are 
taking steps to conduct surveillance in the endemic areas and to 
control the spread of CWD in wild cervids.
    In recent years, CWD has been found in 14 captive elk herds in 
Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. Some of these 
herds have since been depopulated. Of the 2,300 farmed elk herds (with 
a total of 110,000 animals) in the United States, currently only 4 
(with a total of approximately 1,000 animals) are known to be CWD-
positive. We do not know the full extent of infection in farmed elk in 
the United States. Limited funds and the absence of a CWD program have 
allowed the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to 
conduct only minimal surveillance and testing, and not depopulation. 
Presently, herds are placed under State quarantine when infection is 
found.
    While current efforts have been sufficient to depopulate or send to 
slaughter a number of positive herds, primarily through State indemnity 
programs and voluntary depopulation, APHIS has determined that this 
method will not work to eliminate the disease in farmed cervids. First, 
there is no live animal test for CWD, so it is impossible to determine 
whether a live animal is positive; nor is there a vaccine to prevent 
the disease. Second, the incubation period is lengthy, and 3 to 5 years 
of continued surveillance is needed (with no new infection found) 
before a herd can be declared free of CWD through quarantine. To date, 
only 1 of the 14 known CWD-positive herds has been declared free of CWD 
following quarantine.
    Indemnity from State programs has not been adequate to pay fair 
market value for depopulated elk, so each depopulation has caused 
considerable financial loss to the herd owner. Because no funds are 
available within APHIS for depopulation and payment of indemnity, the 
only option for producers to gain some compensation for eliminating a 
CWD-positive herd is to slaughter the animals for human consumption. 
This option represents a very limited incentive for producers to 
participate in an eradication program. Also, it poses potential 
problems related to contamination of slaughter facilities and potential 
human exposure to preclinical infected animals that are not detectable 
with our current testing tools.
    Aggressive action in controlling this disease now will decrease the 
chance of having to deal with a much larger, widespread, and costly 
problem later, such as the situation with BSE in Europe. The European 
Union is struggling to rebuild consumer confidence in Europe's beef 
after recent outbreaks of BSE in France, Spain, and Germany. As 
demonstrated in Europe, once shaken, consumer confidence is very 
difficult to rebuild. BSE's human form, known as variant Creutzfeldt-
Jakob Disease (vCJD), has killed more than 80 people in the United 
Kingdom and 2 in Spain. There is no known cure for this deadly disease, 
or for any of the other diseases caused by TSE's that affect humans or 
animals. Although there is currently no evidence that CWD is linked to 
disease in humans, or in domestic animals other than deer and elk, a 
theoretical risk of such a link exists. Public perception and consumer 
fears that CWD from deer and elk could cause disease in humans or in 
domestic livestock could destroy the markets for elk or deer products. 
Canada has prohibited the import of U.S. cervids due to CWD, and other 
countries are contemplating import restrictions on elk and deer and 
their products. Recently, Korea informed APHIS that it is temporarily 
suspending the importation of deer and elk and their products from the 
United States and Canada.
    Without a Federal program in place to depopulate infected and 
exposed animals, the movement of infected elk into new herds and States 
with no known infection will continue or may even accelerate. APHIS 
needs to take action to document the prevalence of the disease and to 
prevent its further spread. Furthermore, the Agency needs to 
demonstrate, as with other TSE's, that it is able and willing to take 
early and effective action to protect the health of U.S. animals and 
animal industries.
    Therefore, in order to address the CWD threat to U.S. livestock, 
APHIS has determined that additional funds are needed for a CWD 
eradication program. In addition to the purchase of animals, the 
additional funds will be used for program activities such as 
depopulation and disposal, clean-up and disinfection, establishment of 
surveillance and certification programs, testing, implementation and 
maintenance of quarantines, surveillance, and training for producers 
and veterinarians. These additional funds will reduce the spread of CWD 
in captive elk herds and discourage entry of positive or exposed 
animals into the human and animal food chains, and should save the 
Federal Government and farmed elk industry from having to deal with a 
more costly and widespread problem later.
    Therefore, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 
September 25, 1981, as amended (7 U.S.C. 147b), I declare that there is 
an emergency that threatens the livestock industry of this country and 
hereby authorize the transfer and use of such funds as may be necessary 
from appropriations or

[[Page 49343]]

other funds available to the agencies or corporations of the United 
States Department of Agriculture to establish a chronic wasting disease 
eradication program in the United States.

    Effective Date: This declaration of emergency shall become 
effective September 21, 2001.
Ann M. Veneman,
Secretary of Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 01-24192 Filed 9-26-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P