Livestock disease outbreaks without a traceability program in place: Recent events emphasize a need

Summary The U.S. cattle industry is awaiting the final Animal Disease Traceability rule from USDA, which is in its final stages before approval and release. The proposed rule was issued by USDA in August 2011 to create regulations for each state or tribe to improve the traceability of livestock that cross state lines when animal disease outbreaks occur. Such a system should reduce the cost, time, and number of locations and animals involved in a disease outbreak investigation. Comments were sought by USDA from August through December of 2011; however, the official rule has not yet been released. Simultaneously, a clear need for the "development and implementation of an effective animal identification-sharing system" was documented in the recently-released results of the 2011 National Beef Quality Audit (NBQA). During the Strategy Workshop portion of the NBQA, this was identified as the top priority among participants to address food safety and animal health issues, and also to optimize value and eliminate waste in the beef production process. However, this market-driven need for an “animal identification-sharing system” is aimed at increasing the beef industry’s efficiency and ability to maximize quality, rather than a focus on traceability for disease control purposes – as is the case with USDA’s proposed rule. Regardless, it appears that a prime opportunity exists for these parallel systems to gain momentum and collectively address industry challenges.