| (a) Definitions. In addition to the definitions in
§40.1 of this chapter (relating to Definitions), the following
words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the following
meanings:
(1) Animal--An animal in the Cervidae family.
(2) Annual inspection window--The period of time each
year for an enrolled herd to complete an annual inspection. Unless
a specific period is set by a commission representative in writing,
the annual inspection window begins 30 days before the month and day
of the enrollment date and ends 30 days after the month and day of
the enrollment date.
(3) Application and Agreement--The CWD Herd Certification Application and Agreement, a
form published by the commission that is available on the commission
website and available at TAHC region offices.
(4) Eligible Mortality--The death from any cause of
an animal 12 months of age or older, including hunter harvests and
animals slaughtered at a slaughter facility or processing facility.
(5) Enrolled herd--A herd that has been approved for
enrollment in the program.
(6) Enrollment Date--The day, month, and year in which
an owners herd is officially enrolled in the Program.
(7) Local TAHC Region Office--The TAHC Region Office
that covers the county in which the herd's premises is located.
(8) Program--The CWD Herd Certification Program administered
by the commission.
(9) Status--The status of a herd assigned under the
program that follows the requirements in 9 CFR Part 55. Herd status
is based on the number of years of compliance with the requirements
of the program without evidence of the disease and without any specific
determinations that the herd has contained or has been exposed to
CWD.
(10) TWIMS--Texas Wildlife Information Management Services
database operated by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Departments wildlife
division
(b) Program Enrollment Process.
(1) Application and Agreement. For each herd, an owner
shall submit a signed application and agreement to the local TAHC
region office. An owner may enroll multiple herds but is required
to submit an application and agreement for each herd and maintain
each herd separately in accordance with this section.
(2) Enrollment Inspection. After application submission,
a commission representative will schedule and conduct an enrollment
inspection. For each herd, a commission representative will:
(A) visually observe each animal in the herd and the
herd as a whole, for clinical signs of CWD;
(B) verify and record the two unique animal identification
numbers for each individual animal, one of which shall be a nationally
unique official animal identification, all required identification
devices will be visually verified and reconciled with the herd owner's
records;
(C) perform a herd inventory not more than 60 days
prior to the herd's date of enrollment, unless an alternative timeframe
is suggested by a commission representative and approved by the executive
director; and
(D) identify the premises with a premise-based number
system using a Premises Identification Number (PIN) or Location Identification
Number (LID) and confirm perimeter fencing is adequate to prevent
ingress and egress of cervids, structurally sound, in good repair,
and meets any applicable height requirements.
(3) Fees. The commission will assess a fee of $100
per hour for the enrollment inspection performed by a commission representative.
The herd owner is responsible for the fees assessed.
(4) Enrollment approval by a commission representative.
After the enrollment inspection is complete, a commission representative
will approve or deny the application. The date the application is
approved is the enrollment date.
(c) Program Requirements. Herd owners who enroll in
the Program must comply with the following requirements:
(1) Premises.
(A) Maintain the enrolled herd on the identified premises.
(B) Premises must have perimeter fencing adequate to
prevent ingress and or egress of cervids. For herds established after
October 15, 2021, the fence must be a minimum of eight feet high.
(C) To maintain separate herds, a herd owner shall
maintain herds on separate identified premises that have:
(i) separate herd inventories and records;
(ii) separate working facilities;
(iii) separate water sources;
(iv) separate equipment; and
(v) at least 30 feet between the perimeter fencing
around separate herds, and no commingling of animals may occur.
(D) Movement of animals between separate herds by the
same owner must be recorded as if they were separately owned herds.
(2) Animal Identification.
(A) Each animal is required to be identified by two
forms of animal identification attached to the animal.
(i) One of the identifications must be a nationally
unique official animal identification number linked to that animal
in the CWD National Database or a commission approved database.
(ii) The second identification must be unique for the
individual animal within the herd and linked to the CWD National Database
or a commission approved database.
(B) Identify all animals born in the herd.
(i) Each animal born must be identified no later than
March 31 of the year following the year the animal is born with the
required identification.
(ii) Each animal born that changes ownership or is
moved from the premises of origin before 12 months of age shall be
identified with required identification prior to change of ownership
or movement from the premises of origin.
(3) Reporting requirements.
(A) Required reporting. The herd owner shall:
(i) immediately report upon discovery all herd animals
that escape or disappear;
(ii) immediately report upon discovery all free-ranging
cervids that enter the facility;
(iii) immediately report a CWD-suspect animal;
(iv) report test results and provide laboratory reports
within 14 days of receiving the results of an official CWD test;
(v) report all animals added to the herd within five
business days of the acquisition, the report should include the official
identification, species, age, and sex of the animal, date of acquisition,
and name and identification of the herd of origin;
(vi) report all incidences of commingled animals within
five business days, the report should include the official identification,
species, age, and sex of the animal, when the commingling occurred,
the length of time the commingling occurred, and name and identification
of the herd of origin of the commingled animal; and
(vii) report all results from annual inspections and
complete physical herd inventories performed by a TAHC authorized
veterinarian within 14 days.
(B) Methods of reporting.
(i) Immediate reporting must be by phone or email to
a local TAHC region office.
(ii) Enrolled herds with white-tailed deer and mule
deer must use TWIMS to track births, deaths, CWD test results, and
animal movement.
(iii) All other reporting must be made to the local
TAHC region office in writing. Reporting may be submitted by email,
fax, mail, or hand delivery during business hours. Reporting must
be transmitted or postmarked by the reporting deadline.
(4) Testing.
(A) The herd owner must test all eligible mortalities
for CWD via immunohistochemistry (IHC) testing with an official CWD
test.
(B) Postmortem tissue samples must be collected and
prepared by a state or federal animal health official, an accredited
veterinarian, or a certified CWD postmortem sample collector and submitted
to an approved laboratory within seven days.
(C) Test results must be reported in accordance with
this section.
(D) If samples are missed or poor-quality samples are
submitted, a commission representative will review the circumstances
and determine if replacement testing is needed and set the replacement
testing requirements. Missing samples occur when any animal 12 months
of age or older dies, is harvested, slaughtered, escapes, or is otherwise
lost and samples are not submitted for an official CWD test. Poor
quality samples include samples that are severely autolyzed, from
the wrong portion of the brain, the wrong tissue, or not testable
for other reasons.
(E) If the number of eligible mortalities is less than
five percent of the herd when averaged over a three-year period, a
commission representative will review the circumstances and determine
if replacement testing is needed and set the replacement testing requirements.
Cont'd... |
