Federal Government

According to the Paperwork Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid control number for
information collection is 0579-0040. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to
average 80 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources,
gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

OMB
Approved
0579-0040

CLARIFICATION OF INFORMATION REQUESTED
FOR RECOGNITION OF A REGION
Instructions: Please provide detailed answers (English translation required) to these
questions.
1. The authority, organization, and infrastructure of the veterinary services organization
in the region.
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What veterinary force is available in the region for carrying out regulatory
programs for livestock diseases?

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Are all officers veterinarians?

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What are the required procedures for specimen collection?

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What diagnostic procedures and techniques are routinely followed for each
disease agent of concern?

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What laws, regulations, and policies are in effect (copies should be provided,
English translation required)? For example, is waste feeding permitted and, if so,
what restrictions apply (such as cooking the waste to specific temperatures and
duration)?

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What security measures are in place at ports of entry to control importation of
materials that might carry disease agents of concern?

2. Disease status, i.e., is the restricted disease agent known to exist in the region? If
yes, at what prevalence? If no, when was the most recent diagnosis?
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For each relevant hazard, is the pest or disease agent known to exist in the
region?

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If yes, at what prevalence?

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If no, when was the most recent diagnosis or detection?

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What breeds or species were affected?

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How many cases were diagnosed and reported?

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Is reporting the pest or disease agent required in the region?

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If the pest or disease agent was present and subsequently eradicated, what
methods were used for eradication?

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What geographic and environmental characteristics of the exporting region may
influence the prevalence of the pest or disease agent?

3. The status of adjacent regions with respect to the agent.
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For each relevant hazard, is the pest or disease agent known to exist, or has it
existed previously, in any region adjacent to the region proposing the trade?

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If yes, at what prevalence?

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If no, when was the most recent diagnosis?

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Are there any relevant factors about the adjacent regions that should be taken
into account (e.g., size, distance from adjacent border to affected herds or
animals)?

4. The extent of an active disease-control program, if any, if the agent is known to exist
in the region.
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What is the extent of an active disease-control program, if any, if the pest or
disease agent is known to exist in the region, or recently existed is the region?

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What epidemiological investigations are done to trace the source of infection?

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Are infected or exposed animals or premises quarantined? If so, for how long?

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Are affected premises monitored, and if so, how?

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What tests are performed prior to releasing the quarantine?

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What procedures are used to clean up affected premises?

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What treatment regimes are followed?

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What breeding practices are followed?

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If depopulation is used, how are carcasses disposed of (are they salvaged at
abattoirs)?

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Is indemnity paid on destroyed animals?

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Have premises, thought to have been cleaned up, later been found to still be
affected?

5. The vaccination status of the region. When was the last vaccination? What is the
extent of vaccination if it is currently used, and what vaccine is being used?
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Is the ownership and use of vaccine allowed?

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When was the last vaccination?

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What is the extent of vaccination if it is currently used?

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What types of vaccine (live, modified live, killed) are used?

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Who may vaccinate (herd owners, veterinarians, etc.)?

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Are records kept on the use of vaccine?

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Who produces the vaccine?

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Is the administration of serum permitted? If so, by whom and under what
conditions?

6. The degree to which the region is separated from adjacent regions of higher risk
through physical or other barriers.
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To what degree is the region separated from regions of higher risk through
physical or other barriers?

7. The extent to which movement of animals and animal products is controlled from
regions of higher risk, and the level of biosecurity regarding such movements.
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From what countries or regions does the requesting region import products that
could potentially carry pest or disease agents of concern?

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To what extent is the movement of such products controlled from regions of
higher risk, and what is the level of biosecurity regarding such movements?

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What test procedures are used?

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Are animals that may carry the disease agents quarantined? If so, for how long
and where?

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Are import permits and health certificates required?

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What other procedures are used?

8. Livestock demographics and marketing practices in the region.
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How many herds, flocks, etc., of each relevant species are in the region?

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How are they distributed (e.g., herd density, etc.)?

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Where are the major livestock marketing centers?

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What are the patterns of livestock movement within the region?

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How are the animals transported and handled during market transactions?

9. The type and extent of disease surveillance in the region, e.g., is it passive and/or
active, and what is the quantity and quality of sampling and testing?
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Are serum surveys conducted, and if so, how frequently, what sample sizes are
used, and what has been found?

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Is reporting of sick animals mandatory, and if so, what is the procedure (by whom
and to whom) and what penalties are involved for failure to report?

-

Are laboratory tests run on suspicious animals? If so, what procedures and to
what extent (e.g., what proportion of suspicious cases are evaluated using each
of the specific laboratory procedures)?

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Are quarantines imposed on premises with suspicious cases, pending final
diagnosis?

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What other procedures are followed regarding suspicious cases?

10. Diagnostic laboratory capabilities.
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What diagnostic laboratory capabilities are there?

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Are there laboratories approved for agent isolation, identification, and typing (if
yes, indicate the names and addresses of each)?

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If not, where specifically is such isolation, identification, and typing done?

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What security measures are in place in laboratories within the region to prevent
escape of biological agents?

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What kind of training have the diagnostic personnel had regarding the specific
disease agents of concern?

11. Policies and infrastructure for animal disease control in the region, i.e., emergency
response capacity.
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What policies and infrastructure exist for emergency response to outbreak
situations?