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USDA IMPLEMENTS KEY STRATEGY FROM NATIONAL ANIMAL
IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM BUSINESS PLAN
Courtesy USDA
WASHINGTON, April 15, 2008--The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA)
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today announced that
it has implemented a key strategy from its Business Plan to Advance
Animal Disease Traceability by providing National Animal Identification
System (NAIS) compliant "840" radio frequency (RF) eartags to animal
health officials for use in the bovine tuberculosis (TB) control
program.
NAIS-compliant "840" tags provide for individual identification of
livestock through a 15-digit number beginning with the U.S. country
code. Through the use of radio frequency identification (RFID)
technology, the "840" tags allow animal health officials to
electronically identify an animal. This increases the efficiency of
animal disease investigations that involve the tracing of exposed and
potentially infected animals. RFID technology also increases the
accuracy of recording the animal's 15-digit animal identification number
(AIN). USDA has purchased a total of 1.5 million "840" RF animal
identification tags to support animal disease control programs,
including the bovine TB and brucellosis programs.
"Using NAIS-compliant tags with RF technology establishes a consistent
data format across our animal disease programs. It will also increase
the efficiency and accuracy of the on-ground animal health task force
conducting bovine TB testing and response," said Bruce Knight,
undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs. "This effort
supports a key strategy outlined in our business plan and is another
step toward reaching NAIS' ultimate goal of 48-hour traceability."
Recently, USDA shipped 28,000 tags to California to support bovine TB
testing as part of an ongoing investigation. So far, a total of 6,600
cattle in two California herds have been tagged with "840" devices. The
goal is to link the cattle to their premises of origin, so that if there
is an outbreak in the future the movements of the infected animals can
be quickly traced. Bovine tuberculosis investigations are currently
occurring in several States. Since 2002, bovine TB detections in six
states have required the destruction of more than 25,000 cattle. USDA
has tested over 787,000 animals in response to TB outbreaks since 2004.
RF tags have been used in beef and dairy operations for management and
marketing purposes for several years. Incorporating AIN RF tags into
animal disease programs promotes the standardization of identification
methods and technology so that they can be used by producers and animal
health officials for multiple purposes.
Currently, there are five USDA-approved manufacturers that produce eight
devices for official NAIS use. Seven of these devices are RFID eartags,
while the other device is an injectable transponder to be used in horses
and other farm animals not intended to enter the food production chain.
NAIS is a modern, streamlined information system that helps producers
and animal health officials respond quickly and effectively to events
affecting animal health in the United States. NAIS utilizes premises
registration, animal identification and animal tracing components to
both locate potentially diseased animals and eliminate animals from
disease suspicion. It is a state-federal-industry partnership, which is
voluntary at the federal level. For more information on NAIS, go to
www.usda.gov/nais .
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