Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture
2301 N. Cameron St.
Harrisburg, PA 17110-9408
General Information
717-787-4737
Bureau of
Animal Health
Director: Dr. Craig Schultz
717-772-2852
Mary Martin 717-783-5309
CHANGES TO THE TESTING
REQUIREMENTS FOR INTRASTATE
MOVEMENT
Recently, the Bureau of
Animal Health has
re-evaluated the Brucellosis
and Tuberculosis (TB)
testing requirements for
movement of Pennsylvania
deer within Pennsylvania
(intrastate movement). We
have decided that the
chances of any cervid farm
in Pennsylvania being
infected with Brucellosis or
TB is so low at this time
that it does NOT warrant the
Bureau requiring a negative
TB and Brucellosis test
prior to intrastate
movement.
We will continue to monitor
the status of these diseases
as they pertain to captive
Pennsylvania deer and will
institute any changes in the
movement requirements that
we feel are necessary to
protect the deer industry
and all other susceptible
domestic animals.
The requirements for
importation into
Pennsylvania (interstate
movement) remain unchanged.
Although the Bureau has
decided not to make the TB
and Brucellosis testing
mandatory for intrastate
movement, all Pennsylvania
deer farmers can still
require this testing of
purchased deer along with
their routine biosecurity
measures to prevent the
introduction of disease into
their herds.
IMPORTATION PERMITS
Call Mary Martin at
717-783-5309 to apply for an
importation permit. Please
allow one-two weeks leeway
prior to anticipated date of
importation. There is no
charge for this permit at
this time. Please provide
the source herd information
of the herd owner,
including, name, address and
phone number. CWD, TB and BD
status will be verified with
the state of origin. Three
years CWD participation is
required for states not
known to have CWD and five
years for those that have
CWD. You can access the
requirements on our website
at
www.agriculture.state.pa.us
under Bureaus/Animal
Health/Import Rules &
Regulations or call Mary for
the testing requirements.
PREMISES ID
The Pennsylvania Department
of Agriculture (PDA) has
mailed premises ID numbers
to all PDA program
participants and licensees.
This number is to be used on
PDA forms to correctly
identify your farm. For
example: submission forms
sent to a laboratory (Penn
State, New Bolton Center or
PVL), inventory forms,
inspection forms or receipts
(this number replaces the
propagator number). If you
have not received a premises
ID number or if you have any
questions, please call Ron
Miller at 717-772-2852.
MANDATORY HERD CERTIFICATION
PROGRAM (HCP) AND HERD
MONITORED PROGRAM (HMP)
The deadline for choosing
which program you desired
was March 1, 2007. Anyone
not in compliance at that
time could receive fines of
$300 every 30 days. The
paperwork must be completed
by all herd owners with
susceptible species of
cervids, including those
already enrolled in the
voluntary program. After the
regional PDA has attempted
to contact you and you are
still not compliant, a
certified letter will be
mailed before citations are
issued.
The HCP requires two forms
of identification (official
ID must be placed by June 1,
2009), test all deaths 12
months of age and older,
annual inspection, annual
updated inventory and
additions must be from herds
of equal (month, day, year)
status or higher. Cervids
from this program can be
sold to anyone (watch
status).
If the two forms of
identification are not in
place at the time of your
inspection, your status will
be dropped to HCP 1st year
and you will need to get
them identified within six
months or it would be
dropped to HMP status if you
feel you cannot identify
them. You would be able to
move them to slaughter or
shooting preserves only. The
movement policy of needing
to test 30 before you can
move them will be dropped.
The HMP is for those
herds that cannot/will not
put identification on the
cervids or provide accurate
inventory. Inspections are
done at PDA’s discretion.
Herd owner must submit
annual inventory showing
additions/deletions. Testing
requirements are based on
the source of the cervids.
If sources are non-program
test 100% up to 30 per year,
if sources are program test
10% up to 30 per year and if
sources are certified herds
no testing required. An
inventory must be submitted
with either program. If you
have any questions regarding
either program, contact Mary
Martin at 717-783-5309.
CERVIDAE LIVESTOCK OPERATOR
LICENSE (CLO)
A CLO license application
replaces the propagators
permit. There is no fee at
this time. All cervids
behind a fence must have a
CLO including: zoos, farms,
hunting preserves and owning
them as pets. The only
exception is a herd owner
that has a menagerie permit
(issued by PGC)
RADIO FREQUENCY
IDENTIFICATION (RFID) TAGS
Once you have received your
premise ID number, you can
receive the 985 RFID tags at
no charge from Mary Martin
717-783-5309. At this time,
these 985 RFID tags are
considered an official form
of ID by NAIS and may become
mandatory by 2010.
CERTIFIED CWD TECHNICIAN (CCT)
REMINDER
Wear latex or vinyl type
gloves while collecting
brain specimens wear face
shield. Use a cut-resistant
glove over your latex or
vinyl gloves to further
protect yourself. DO NOT
collect from any cervid
showing clinical signs
compatible with rabies or
CWD. Contact your regional
PDA office to have a
federal, state or accredited
veterinarian collect the
sample from the animal or
submit the animal to one of
the PADLS laboratories.
LAB FEES
If the laboratories extract
the CWD sample, there is now
a fee of $15.00. There is
also a disposal fee of
$40.00 for whole carcasses.
If you would like to become
trained to take the CWD
samples yourself, please
contact your regional Bureau
of Animal Health office.
DEALER/HAULER LICENSE NEEDED
If you are hauling deer for
another party other than
yourself, you are required
by law to have a
dealer/hauler license. This
can be obtained through Mary
Bates at the Bureau by
calling 717-772-2852 ext
211. The fee is $50.00
annually. If you know of
anyone who is hauling deer,
please provide them with
this information. Thank you
in advance for your
cooperation.
TUBERCULOSIS AND BRUCELLOSIS
TESTING
Currently the certificates
for the Tuberculosis and
Brucellosis testing have the
expiration date as the very
last date you may test. The
anniversary date would be
three months before that and
you may test three months
prior to your anniversary
date. If you have a
certified and accredited
herd and would like to ship
out of state, the USDA
requires that it be done
prior to the anniversary
date. Your herd status is in
a grey period after the
anniversary date, therefore
the states will not allow
importation until the herd
test is complete. The
anniversary date has been
added to the certificates to
make it clearer to the
industry. Please call
717-783-5309 if you have any
questions.
INTRASTATE TRANSPORT OF
CERVIDS IN PENNSYLVANIA
Cervids transported from one
location to another within
Pennsylvania must meet the
following requirements:
1) Official
identification: Each farmed
or captive CWD-susceptible
cervid, 12 months of age or
older, that is within a herd
enrolled in the Herd
Certification Program shall
have at least two forms of
animal identification
attached or affixed to it.
One form of identification
must be “official” as
defined by USDA, the other
may be unofficial (such as a
farm tag) or official animal
identification as defined by
USDA/APHIS and approved by
PDA. The following forms of
animal identification are
considered by USDA/APHIS as
“official” forms of animal
identification:
- A tattoo of a
unique number approved by
PDA and/or USDA/APHIS
- A tamper resistant
ear tag (with or without
Radio Frequency
Identification –RFID-
capability) bearing a unique
15-digit AIN or ISO
compliant number.
- A USDA/APHIS-
issued metal ear tag,
bearing a unique number
provided by USDA/APHIS.
- An ear tag bearing
a nationally unique number
approved by USDA which
identifies the animal as
unique within the herd and
linked to the national CWD
database
- An electronic
implant device, such as a
microchip provided that an
appropriate reader is
available.
2) Chronic Wasting
Disease
- Cervids on a CWD
Herd Certification Program
may be moved intrastate.
- Cervids on a CWD
Herd Monitoring Program may
not be moved intrastate
unless by special permit
issued by PDA. An exception
to this permit requirement
occurs when at least 30
captive CWD-susceptible
cervids age 12 months or
older from a single herd
have been tested for CWD and
found to be test-negative,
in which case live cervids
from that herd may be
transported intrastate
without a special permit if
they are transported only to
a shooting preserve or a
slaughter facility.
HERD ADDITIONS FOR
TUBERCULOSIS, BRUCELLOSIS,
AND CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE
1) HERD ADDITIONS TO
A TB ACCREDITED HERD
- TB: Must originate
from one of the following
and have no known exposure
to non-accredited captive
cervids
- An accredited herd
- A qualified or
monitored herd with the
individual animal having
negative TB results “within”
90 days prior to entry and
isolated from accredited
herd until they have
negative results 90 days
following entry
- If not meeting
either of the above –
isolate and have negative
results on two tests 90 days
apart with the second test
done “within” 90 days prior
to movement. Keep in
isolation until a negative
result at least 90 days
following entry.
2) HERD ADDITIONS TO
A TB QUALIFIED HERD
- An accredited herd
- A qualified or
monitored herd with the
individual animal having
negative TB results “within”
90 days prior to entry
- If not meeting
either of the above –
isolate and have negative
results on two tests 90 days
apart with the second test
done “within” 90 days prior
to movement. Keep in
isolation until a negative
result at least 90 days
following entry.
3) TB/BD MONITORED
HERD
- There is a TB
monitoring program option
available for herds that
regularly send animals to
slaughter. For more
information, contact Mary
Martin at 717-783-5309.
4) HERD ADDITION TO A
BRUCELLOSIS CERTIFIED HERD
- BD: From certified
herd to certified herd – no
test required but recommend
test 60-180 days after
addition
- From non-certified
herds
- Negative BD test
“within” 30 days prior to
movement
- Negative BD test
60-180 days after addition
- Third negative test
on next scheduled herd
re-certification test
5) CHRONIC WASTING
DISEASE
- Must be purchased
from herds with an equal or
earlier enrollment date
(date, month and year) or
loss of herd status will
occur.
6) TUBERCULOSIS AND
BRUCELLOSIS UPDATE
On April 26, 2006, the
requirement of USDA for
accreditation for
tuberculosis was changed
extending the term for which
accredited herd status is
valid from two to three
years (33-39 months). In
addition, the number of
consecutive tests of all
eligible captive cervids to
accredit a herd is now two
(had been three).
The federal ruling for
Brucellosis has not been
passed as of this time;
however, Pennsylvania has
adopted the requirements for
Brucellosis to be the same
as those for Tuberculosis.
For certification status:
two consecutive tests of all
eligible captive cervids
9-15 months apart and for
recertification, test every
three years (33-39 months).
Call Dr. Donald McLean at
717-787-3442 (USDA) or Mary
Martin at 717-783-5309 if
you have any questions.
