Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act
Officially: “Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act” Read the full text
What it does
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1Short title
This section would let the Act be referred to as the Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act.
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1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act .
2Sense of Congress
This section would state that it is the sense of Congress that the Indian Health Service of the Department of Health and Human Services is uniquely suited to empower Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations to address zoonotic disease threats in the communities they serve, by providing public health veterinary services through a One Health approach that recognizes the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment. As a sense of Congress, this is a statement of view and does not itself require any agency to act.
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2. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the Indian Health Service of the Department of Health and Human Services is uniquely suited to empower Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations to address zoonotic disease threats in the communities they serve by providing public health veterinary services through a One Health approach that recognizes the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.
3Public health veterinary services
This section would add a new section to Title II of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, placed after existing section 223, authorizing public health veterinary services. It would define public health veterinary services to include spaying and neutering domestic animals, diagnosing disease, surveillance, epidemiology, control, prevention, elimination, vaccination, and any other related service or activity that reduces the risk of zoonotic disease transmission or antimicrobial resistance in humans, food, or animals. It would define zoonotic disease as a disease or infection that may be transmitted naturally from vertebrate animals to humans or from humans to vertebrate animals. It would let the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Indian Health Service, spend funds, either directly or through contracts and agreements under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, on public health veterinary services to prevent and control zoonotic disease infection and transmission in Service areas where the risk of disease in humans and wildlife is endemic. In providing these services, the Secretary could assign or deploy veterinary public health officers from the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service to those Service areas, and could coordinate and carry out activities with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Secretary of Agriculture. The Secretary would have to submit a report every two years to the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, covering the use of funds, the assignment and deployment of veterinary public health officers from the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service, data related to monitoring and disease surveillance of zoonotic diseases, and related services provided under the new section.
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3. Public health veterinary services Title II of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act is amended by inserting after section 223 ( 25 U.S.C. 1621v ) the following: 224. Public health veterinary services (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Public health veterinary services The term public health veterinary services includes any of the following: (A) Spaying and neutering services for domestic animals. (B) Diagnoses. (C) Surveillance. (D) Epidemiology. (E) Control. (F) Prevention. (G) Elimination. (H) Vaccination. (I) Any other related service or activity that reduces the risk of zoonotic disease transmission or antimicrobial resistance in humans, food, or animals. (2) Zoonotic disease The term zoonotic disease means a disease or infection that may be transmitted naturally from vertebrate animals to humans, or from humans to vertebrate animals. (b) Authorization for veterinary services The Secretary, acting through the Service, may expend funds, directly or pursuant to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act ( 25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq. ), for public health veterinary services to prevent and control zoonotic disease infection and transmission in Service areas where the risk for disease occurrence in humans and wildlife is endemic. (c) Public health officers; coordination In providing public health veterinary services under subsection (b), the Secretary may— (1) assign or deploy veterinary public health officers from the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service to Service areas; and (2) coordinate and implement activities with— (A) the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and (B) the Secretary of Agriculture. (d) Report The Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a biennial report on the use of funds, the assignment and deployment of veterinary public health officers from the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service, data related to the monitoring and disease surveillance of zoonotic diseases, and related services provided under this section. .
4APHIS wildlife services study on oral rabies vaccines in Arctic regions of the United States
This section would require the Secretary of Agriculture, not later than 1 year after the Act is enacted, to conduct a feasibility study on the delivery of oral rabies vaccines to wildlife reservoir species that are directly or indirectly connected to the transmission of rabies to Tribal members living in Arctic regions of the United States. The study would have to evaluate how effective those vaccines are and make recommendations for improving how they are delivered.
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4. APHIS wildlife services study on oral rabies vaccines in Arctic regions of the United States Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall conduct a feasibility study— (1) on the delivery of oral rabies vaccines to wildlife reservoir species that are directly or indirectly connected to the transmission of rabies to Tribal members living in Arctic regions of the United States; and (2) that— (A) evaluates the efficacy of the vaccines described in paragraph (1); and (B) makes recommendations to improve the delivery of those vaccines.
5One Health framework
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5. One Health framework Section 2235(b) of the Prepare for and Respond to Existing Viruses, Emerging New Threats, and Pandemics Act ( 42 U.S.C. 300hh–37(b) ) is amended by striking and the Secretary of the Interior and inserting , the Secretary of the Interior, and the Director of the Indian Health Service .
Where it is
In the Senate.