By Julie Tomascik
Associate Editor

U.S. sheep and goat farmers have scrapie on the run. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proposed rule changes to strengthen the eradication program.

“This appears to be a move that supports the final stage of a successful, decades-old partnership between federal, state and industry groups,” said Tracy Tomascik, Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) associate director of commodity and regulatory activities.

Scrapie, a terminal disease of the central nervous system in sheep and goats, is spread during the birthing process. It’s a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) similar to chronic wasting disease (CWD) and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

Under the proposed revisions, sheep farmers would be subject to more flexible rules, while goat farmers would face stricter requirements.

Genetic testing would be used to assign risk levels to sheep. Those that are categorized as “low risk exposed animals” could be excluded from destruction, according to USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) officials, whereas current rules force state regulators to depopulate sheep exposed to animals that test positive.

“That’s a big change,” Tomascik said. “It means sheep exposed to an infected ewe that came from another flock, but didn’t lamb among them, would be considered low risk and not depopulated.”

Goat farmers would see changes to identification.

Tattoos, ear tags or electronic implants currently are only used for goats that are exhibited at shows. Those that are raised for meat and fiber, but aren’t shown, aren’t identified at slaughter.

“Producers who raise goats would have to meet the same requirements as sheep farmers—identifying all goats over 18 months of age,” Tomascik said.

Due to the difficulty of detection in young animals, the identification requirement isn’t applied to sheep and goats under 18 months of age.

“The changes would give farmers and ranchers the chance to completely stamp out the disease,” Tomascik said.

The proposed changes are open for comment through Nov. 9 and can be found on the Federal Register.

For more information on the proposed changes, visit www.aphis.usda.gov and click the link titled “USDA Proposes Changes to Existing Scrapie Regulations.”