Section 60. Animal health

Part VII. Animal Health

A. No person may produce, provide, manufacture sell, offer for sale, store in the Commonwealth, or bring, send, or receive into the Commonwealth any milk, milk product, or condensed and dry milk product for use in the commercial preparation of grade A pasteurized, ultra-pasteurized, aseptically processed and packaged, or retort processed after packaged milk or milk product unless the person complies with the following requirements:

1. Milk for pasteurization, ultra-pasteurization, aseptic processing and packaging, or retort processed after packaging from cows, goats, sheep, water buffalo, and other mammals shall (i) be from a herd or flock that complies with the "Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication: Uniform Methods and Rules, effective January 1, 2005," 9 CFR Part 77, and each herd or flock shall be located in a Modified Accredited Advanced Tuberculosis Area or an Area Accredited Free of Bovine Tuberculosis as defined in "Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication: Uniform Methods and Rules, effective January 1, 2005"; (ii) be accredited as a tuberculosis-free herd by the U.S. Department of Agriculture; (iii) have passed an annual tuberculosis test; or (iv) be located in an area that has established a tuberculosis testing protocol for livestock that assures tuberculosis protection and surveillance of the dairy industry within the area and that is approved by FDA, USDA, and the State Regulatory Authority;

2. Milk for pasteurization, ultra-pasteurization, aseptic processing and packaging, or retort processed after packaging from bison and cattle shall be from a herd that complies with "Brucellosis Eradication: Uniform Methods and Rules, effective October 1, 2003," 9 CFR Part 78, and the following:

a. Each herd shall be located in a Certified Brucellosis-Free Area as defined in "Brucellosis Eradication: Uniform Methods and Rules, effective October 1, 2003," or shall be a certified brucellosis-free herd by the United States Department of Agriculture;

b. Each herd shall meet the requirements for an individually certified herd as defined in "Brucellosis Eradication: Uniform Methods and Rules, effective October 1, 2003";

c. Each herd shall participate in a milk ring testing program meeting the requirements specified in "Brucellosis Eradication: Uniform Methods and Rules, effective October 1, 2003," in an area that conducts a milk ring testing program at least two times per year at approximately equal intervals, and any herd with a positive milk ring test result shall be blood tested within 30 days from the date of the positive milk ring test; or

d. Each cow, bull, heifer, calf, and bison in the herd shall be individually tested by an "official" blood test as defined in "Brucellosis Eradication" for the detection of brucellosis annually;

3. Goat's milk, sheep's milk, water buffalo milk, and milk from other mammals (except bison and cattle) for pasteurization, ultra-pasteurization, aseptic processing and packaging, or retort processed after packaging shall be from a herd or flock that:

a. Has an annual whole-herd brucellosis test as recommended by the State Veterinarian or USDA Area Veterinarian in Charge;

b. Has passed an initial whole herd or flock brucellosis test, followed by the testing of all replacement animals or any animals entering the milking group or sold as dairy animals on a continuing basis;

c. Has passed an annual random blood-testing program sufficient to provide a confidence level of 99% with a P value of 0.05. Any herd or flock with one or more confirmed positive animals shall go to 100% testing until the whole herd tests show no positive animals are found. The following table provides the random sampling size needed to achieve a 99% confidence with a P value of 0.05:

	Herd/Flock Size	Sampling Size		Herd/Flock Size	Sampling Size
	20	20		500	82
	50	41		600	83
	100	59		700	84
	150	67		800	85
	200	72		1000	86
	250	75		1400	87
	300	77		1800	88
	350	79		4000	89
	400	80		10000	89
	450	81		100000	90

; or

d. Has passed a USDA-approved bulk milk brucellosis test certified for use in each species of mammal and at the USDA-recommended frequency for testing with an implementation date based on the availability of the test; and

4. For diseases of cows, sheep, goats, water buffalo, or other mammals that might affect human health, other than brucellosis and tuberculosis, the State Regulatory Authority may require physical, chemical, or bacteriological examinations or other tests as may be deemed necessary by a licensed veterinarian or a veterinarian in the employ of the State Regulatory Authority to diagnose the disease. Each grade A permit holder shall dispose of any diseased animal disclosed by testing in a manner that prevents the spread of the disease to other animals or humans.

B. Each grade A dairy farm permit holder shall test his whole herd of milking mammals for brucellosis using a test method acceptable to a licensed veterinarian or a veterinarian in the employ of the State Regulatory Authority within 30 days after each positive screening test result on a milk ring test.

Historical Notes

Derived from VR115-05-01 § 6, eff. October 15, 1986; amended, Volume 03, Issue 10, eff. March 18, 1987; Volume 09, Issue 23, eff. September 8, 1993; Volume 23, Issue 20, eff. May 23, 2007; Volume 31, Issue 12, eff. January 21, 2015.

Statutory Authority

§ 3.2-5206 of the Code of Virginia.