Weak Management in Animal Disease Control Program Results in Large Economic Losses

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is responsible for conducting regulatory and control programs to protect and improve the Nation's animal and plant resources. The Service has two basic units: Veterinary Services, and Plant Protection and Quarantine. GAO reviewed the Veterinary Service's Brucellosis Eradication Program to determine whether improvements could be made.

Progress in the Brucellosis Eradication Program has been impeded because several disease control measures have not been implemented effectively. Some animals sold at livestock markets and identified as infected could not be traced to their herds of origin because of inadequate control over the collection of ownership information and the identification tagging of animals. Herds were not always tested in time to assure that infection was expeditiously identified. Controls were not always used to make sure that all animals in quarantined herds were accounted for from test to test so that any infection was identified as quickly as possible. Field personnel had not always followed procedures to locate herds exposed to disease by cattle purchased from herds subsequently found to be infected. While field personnel often attributed these operational shortcomings to lack of industry cooperation or personnel shortages, GAO found that weaknesses in the management systems were a primary cause of ineffective implementation of disease control measures. The management systems do not provide assurance that field personnel and each organizational unit know what is expected of them in implementing these measures, nor do they provide guidance for measuring performance regarding these expectations.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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