The Texas Animal Health Commission issued its annual reminder of the state’s chronic wasting disease requirements for exotic susceptible species, telling landowners and hunters to review the rules before the fall season, the agency said in a Sept. 15 news release.
The requirements are designed to keep the fatal neurological disease from spreading through the captive exotic herds that support Texas hunting operations. According to the agency, the rules help prevent the movement of chronic wasting disease and cover surveillance, movement, reporting, identification and recordkeeping for animals that are harvested, captured or bred.
The commission said the statewide requirements for hunter-harvested captive exotic susceptible species apply to North American elk or wapiti, black-tailed deer, red deer, reindeer, caribou, sika deer, moose, muntjac deer and any associated subspecies and hybrids.
Owners of premises where captive exotic susceptible species are hunter-harvested face testing obligations each calendar year. The agency said the owner must test all eligible mortalities until three valid test results are obtained and reported to the commission. An eligible mortality is a death from any cause — including hunter harvest, herd culling, natural mortality on the premises and animals moved directly to slaughter — of an exotic susceptible animal 12 months of age or older. Samples must be properly collected and submitted for testing within seven days, and owners must report to the commission within 14 days of receiving valid results.
Landowners are also required to keep mortality records for all captive exotic susceptible species 12 months of age or older and submit them to the commission on or before April 1 each year, the release said.
Movement rules apply as well. The commission said all live exotic susceptible species moved or transported within Texas must have official identification, and moving the animals between premises requires both owners to obtain a Premises Identification Number or Location Identification Number from the commission or the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Owners must also keep an annual inventory and mortality record, reconcile and submit it by April 1, retain inventory records for five years and keep mortality records for one year after submission.
The agency directed owners with questions about identification numbers to its Animal Disease Traceability Department at 512-719-0733.