April 16, 2008

USDA issues radio frequency animal ID tags

Animal health officials in the US will be issued "840" radio frequency (RF) eartags that are compliant with the National Animal Identification System for use in the bovine tuberculosis control programme, the USDA said.

The NAIS-compliant "840" tags will identify livestock through a 15-digit number beginning with the US country code.

The USDA's aims to associate the cattle to their place of origin, which should make it easier to track the movement of infected animals in case of an outbreak.

A total of 1.5 million "840" RF animal identification tags has been purchased by the USDA to support animal disease control programmes, including those for bovine TB and brucellosis.

The USDA shipped 28,000 tags to California to support bovine TB testing as part of an ongoing investigation.

There have been 6,600 cattle in two California herds that have been tagged with "840" devices.