NAHSS Activity Update, October 2005
Classical Swine Fever Surveillance Plan
Implementation of the first two installments of the CSF surveillance plan (population-based passive reporting of suspicious CSF cases, and laboratory-based surveillance of serum and tissue submitted from sick pigs) will begin in November 2005. Money has been distributed to 18 high-risk States participating through cooperative agreements. A training manual will be fielded in late October, and a contractor has been hired to develop the National Animal Health Laboratory Network database for CSF.
Development of Surveillance Standards
The National Surveillance Standards manual is nearing completion and will be ready for review outside the Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health in November 2005. In addition to assisting with the planning and development of surveillance systems, the manual is designed to establish categories and guidelines for data elements and addresses data accessibility, storage, and quality-control issues.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Data Analysis
A review of surveillance data is underway in order to conduct an analysis of the prevalence of BSE in the Canadian beef herd. The National Surveillance Unit is working jointly with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the USDA's Office of Risk Assessment and Cost Benefit Analysis for the Canadian Minimal Risk Rule II Team.
Rift Valley Fever Surveillance Plan
A risk assessment team recently began developing a Risk Analysis and Hazard Categorization for RVF, an important first step in preparation for drafting a RVF surveillance plan. The objective of the risk assessment is to determine the possible pathways and likelihood of introduction of RVF into the cattle, sheep, and goat populations of the United States.
Interagency H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) Working Group
Under the direction of the Department of Homeland Security Policy Coordination Committee, an interagency committee with representation from Health and Human Services, the Department of Interior, The International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the State of Alaska, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service-Veterinary Services has been created in order to develop a surveillance plan to detect the first occurrence of H5N1 HPAI in wild waterfowl in Alaska.