(a) Testing of blood.

(1) All tests shall be made by approved personnel only as the basis for compliance with these regulations.

(2) All tests must be confirmed by an approved laboratory as the basis for compliance with these regulations.

(3) Samples for all retest purposes will be collected by commission or APHIS personnel and submitted to an approved laboratory for confirmation testing.

(b) Classification or goats. (Note: this paragraph also pertains to sheep). Test results shall be interpreted by State or Federal regulatory veterinarians. The following are approved tests:

(1) Card test. The card (buffered Brucella antigen, or BBA test) may be used to test goats. The 3% (antigen concentration) BBA test is used as a presumptive or screening test. The 8% (antigen concentration) BBA test may be used as a definitive test. Results of the card test may be used with other test results conducted in the approved laboratory to aid in the classification of animals.

(2) Manual complement fixation (CF) test. (A) Interpretation of the manual CF test results.

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(B) Interpretation of test result codes. The following codes are utilized by the laboratory to represent the corresponding test results:

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(3) Standard tube agglutination test (STT) or standard plate agglutination test (SPT). Interpretation of STT and SPT tests.

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(4) Particle concentration fluorescence immunoassay (PCFIA) test. May be used to determine the brucellosis disease status of livestock when conducted by methods approved by USDA, APHIS, VS. Interpretation of PCFIA test results.

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(5) New tests under research. Laboratory tests approved by the executive director are authorized to be used in conjunction with tests listed in this subsection for evaluation of their future usefulness in the program.

(c) Reclassification of reactors. Animals initially classified as reactors may be reclassified provided a complete epidemiological investigation of the herd is conducted and there is no evidence of field strain Brucella melitensis infection exposure thereto.

(d) Requirements of a herd test.

(1) Test eligibility--All goats that are one year of age or older as evidenced by the eruption of their first permanent incisor teeth shall be included in the herd test. Testing requirements for species other than goats will be specified by the epidemiologist.

(2) Identification requirements. All animals tested shall be identified with an official identification.

(e) Procedures in affected herds.

(1) Herds which contain animals classified as suspects shall be placed under hold order. The suspect or herd shall be retested as necessary to establish a final diagnosis.

(2) Herds which infection has been diagnosed by a State/Federal regulatory veterinarian based on culture, serology, or epidemiological evidence, with concurrence by the epidemiologist, will be placed under quarantine. An individual herd plan outlining procedures to eliminate the disease will be developed by the regulatory veterinarian in consultation with the epidemiologist and the herd owner or caretaker and his veterinarian (if requested by the owner). If a plan cannot be agreed upon, then the plan developed by the commission shall be final and the owner caretaker will be provided a copy. The plan shall include provisions for depopulation of exposed livestock as specified in (f) of this section. The quarantine may be released 30 days after completion of depopulation and any required cleaning/disinfecting. The premise shall not be restocked prior to quarantine release.

(3) An epidemiological investigation will be performed following the diagnosis of infection. All exposed livestock, adjacent and high risk herds shall be placed under hold order and tested one or more times as deemed necessary by the epidemiologist. Testing requirements for species other than goats will be specified by the epidemiologist.

(f) Depopulation with indemnity.

(1) All exposed livestock shall be humanely destroyed and disposed of on the premise where disclosed or at a facility approved by the Executive Director.

(2) When it has been determined that an animal has brucellosis or was exposed the Commission may pay indemnity. This is subject to the availability of funds and this is determined by the unreimbursed amount determined by deducting the federal compensation from the appraised value not to exceed $100.00 for each animal classified under this subsection for no more than one hundred (100) animals.

Source Note: The provisions of this §35.61 adopted to be effective September 28, 1990, 15 TexReg 5359; amended to be effective December 24, 2000, 25 TexReg 12376