The American Sheep Industry Association has been awarded a National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program grant for $111,110 to evaluate the traceability of livestock marketed in an auction market setting utilizing electronic identification in a Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak through collaboration with industry and state partners.
The purpose of this agreement is to demonstrate how electronic ID systems when utilized in a livestock auction market setting can enhance animal disease traceability and decrease the response time during a Foreign Animal Disease outbreak. ASI will accomplish this by simulating two FMD outbreak trace exercises of animals (sheep, goats and cattle) sold through Oregon livestock auction markets.
The first exercise will be based on the current animal ID system used by the livestock auction markets to provide rapid animal movement traceability information to the state animal health official. The second exercise will follow implementation and/or enhancement of the electronic animal ID system at the auction market(s). Three multi-species (sheep, goats and cattle) auction markets ranging from small to large scale will be invited to participate. It is critical that auction markets provide animal movement information in an effective manner to minimize the impacts of a disease outbreak.
In collaboration with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, this project will demonstrate how an electronic animal ID system can generate the needed information required by state and federal animal health officials for tracing movement of livestock within and across state lines during an FMD outbreak. This will be accomplished by demonstrating how the time required to trace animals is different between the initial FMD exercise trace and the second FMD exercise trace after implementation of an electronic animal ID system.
