August 16, 2007

USDA to re-establish committee on foreign animal and poultry diseases

The US Department of Agriculture is bent on re-establishing Secretary's Advisory Committee on Foreign Animal and Poultry Diseases for a two-year period, determining that the Committee is necessary and in the public interest.

This notice of intent was posted in the Federal Register August 13.

The purpose of the Committee is to advise the USDA on programme operations and measures to suppress, control, or eradicate an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, or other animal diseases. The Committee will also advise the Secretary of Agriculture on ways to prevent these diseases from entering the United States.

For more information, contact Dr. Bethany O'Brien, Acting Director of Outreach and Liaisons, Emergency Management and Diagnostics, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 41, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-8073.