The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

1. (1) Approved Laboratory--A diagnostic laboratory approved by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Administrator to conduct official tests for CWD in accordance with 9 CFR §55.8.
2. (2) Breeding Facility--Privately owned, high-fenced pens where a cervid herd is managed for breeding purposes. The breeding facility must be registered with and assigned a facility identification number (FID) by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for white-tailed deer and mule deer.
3. (3) Certified CWD Postmortem Sample Collector--An individual who has completed appropriate training recognized by the commission on the collection, preservation, laboratory submission, and proper recordkeeping of samples for postmortem CWD testing, and who has been certified by the commission to perform these activities.
4. (4) Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)--A transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) of susceptible species. Clinical signs include, but are not limited to, loss of body condition, loss of appetite, incoordination, blank stares, tremors, listlessness, excessive salivation, difficulty swallowing, increased drinking and urination, depression, and other behavioral changes and eventual death.
5. (5) Commingled, Commingling--Farmed cervids of any age are commingled if they are housed or penned together having direct physical contact with each other, have less than 10 feet of physical separation except in cases of limited contact, or any activity where uninhibited contact occurs such as sharing an enclosure, a section of a transport vehicle, or sharing equipment, pens or stalls, pasture, or water sources/watershed, such as cervids housed in a pen that receives runoff or shares a natural or man-made body of water with another pen. Commingling includes contact with bodily fluids or excrement from other farmed or captive animals. Animals are also considered to have commingled if they have had such contact with a CWD-positive herd or contaminated premises within the last 5 years. Farmed cervids commingled with other farmed cervids assume the status of the lowest program status animal in the group.
6. (6) Commission--The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC).
7. (7) Complete Herd Inventory--One in which all animals in the herd must be validated by the person officially performing the inventory verification.
8. (8) CWD-Exposed Animal--A CWD susceptible species that is part of a CWD-positive herd, or that has been commingled with or been exposed to a CWD-positive animal or resided on contaminated premises within the five years before diagnosis.
9. (9) CWD-Positive Herd--A herd in which a CWD-positive animal resided at the time of CWD diagnosis.
10. (10) CWD Susceptible Species--All species in the Cervidae family that have had a CWD diagnosis confirmed by an official test conducted by an approved laboratory. This includes white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus), North American elk or wapiti (Cervus canadensis), red deer (Cervus elaphus), Sika deer (Cervus nippon), moose (Alces alces), reindeer and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) and any associated subspecies and hybrids.
11. (11) CWD-Suspect Animal--A CWD susceptible species with unofficial CWD test results, laboratory evidence or clinical signs that suggest a diagnosis of CWD, as determined by a commission representative, but for which official laboratory results are inconclusive or not yet conducted.
12. (12) CWD-Suspect Herd--A herd with unofficial CWD test results, laboratory evidence, or clinical signs that suggest a diagnosis of CWD, as determined by a commission representative, but for which official laboratory results are inconclusive or not yet conducted.
13. (13) CWD Test Eligible--Unless otherwise specifically provided in these rules, all Cervidae 12 months of age and over.
14. (14) Enrollment Date--The day, month, and year when a herd that joins the CWD Herd Certification Program receives a satisfactory initial inspection.
15. (15) Enrolled Herd--A herd that has enrolled in the commission's Herd Certification Program and has met the minimum requirements defined in 9 CFR Part 55. Upon initial enrollment, all herds will be placed in First Year status unless the herd is assembled from other herds already participating in the program, and in such case will assume the status of the lowest herd.
16. (16) Executive Director--The Executive Director of the Texas Animal Health Commission, or any individual authorized to act for the Executive Director.
17. (17) Farmed or Captive--Privately or publicly maintained or held cervids for economic or other purposes within a perimeter fence or confined area, or captured from a free-ranging population for interstate or intrastate movement and release.

18. (18) Herd--An animal or group of animals that is:

    1. (A) Under common ownership, control, or supervision and are grouped on one or more parts of any single premises, including a lot, farm, or ranch where commingling of animals occurs; or
    2. (B) All animals under common ownership, control, or supervision on two or more geographically-separated premises where animals are commingled or had direct contact with one another.
19. (19) Herd Certification Program--The program operated by the commission for the certification of CWD status cervid herds that meets the requirements of 9 CFR Part 55, subpart B.
20. (20) Herd Plan--A written herd or premises management agreement developed by the commission, the herd owner, and other affected parties. A herd plan sets forth the steps to take to control the spread of CWD from a CWD-positive herd, to control the risk of CWD in a CWD-exposed or CWD-suspect herd, or to prevent introduction of CWD into that herd or any other herd. Requirements to prevent or control the possible spread of CWD, depending on the particular circumstances of the herd and its premises, including but not limited to depopulation of the herd, specifying the time when a premises must not contain cervids after CWD-positive, CWD-exposed, or CWD-suspect animals are removed from the premises, fencing requirements, selective culling of animals, restrictions on sharing and movement of possibly contaminated livestock equipment, premises cleaning and disinfection requirements, and other requirements may also be included in a herd plan. A herd plan requires the following: specified means of identification for each animal in the herd, regular examination of animals in the herd by a veterinarian for clinical signs of CWD, reporting to a commission representative any clinical signs of CWD, and recordkeeping.
21. (21) Herd Status--The status of a herd assigned under the commission CWD Herd Certification Program in compliance with Section 40.3 indicating a herd's relative risk for CWD. Herd status is the number of years of monitoring without evidence of the disease and any specific determinations that the herd has contained or has been exposed to a CWD-positive, CWD-exposed, or CWD-suspect animal. When a herd is first enrolled in the CWD Herd Certification Program, it will be placed in First Year status; except that, if the herd is composed solely of animals obtained from herds already enrolled in the program, the newly enrolled herd will have the same status as the lowest status of any herd that provided animals for the new herd. If the herd continues to meet the requirements of the program, each year, on the anniversary of the enrollment date the herd status will be upgraded by one year. One year from the date a herd is placed in Fifth Year status, the herd status will be changed to Certified, and the herd will remain in Certified Status as long as it is enrolled in the program, provided its status is not lowered, suspended, or revoked.
22. (22) High-risk area or county--An area or county that is epidemiologically determined to have a high probability for species susceptible for having, developing or being exposed to CWD.
23. (23) Hold Order--A written commission order and action restricting movement of a herd, animal, or animal product pending the determination of CWD status.
24. (24) Limited Contact--Any brief, incidental contact between cervids from different herds such as in sale or show rings and alleyways at fairs, livestock auctions, sales, shows, and exhibitions. Limited contact does not include penned animals having less than ten feet of physical separation or contact through a fence, or any activity where uninhibited contact occurs such as sharing an enclosure, a section of a transport vehicle, equipment, food, or water sources, or contact with bodily fluids or excrement. Pens at fairs, livestock auctions, sales, shows, and exhibitions must be thoroughly cleaned and all organic material removed after use and before holding another animal.
25. (25) Location Identification Number (LID)--A nationally unique number assigned by the commission to a premises starting with the state postal abbreviation (TX) followed by six random alphanumeric characters. Each LID is a geographically distinct location associated with a verifiable physical address, geospatial coordinates, or other location descriptors. All herds in the CWD Herd Certification Program will be assigned a LID or PIN.
26. (26) Minimum Mortality Rate--Death loss from natural causes is expected to be five percent for white-tailed deer 12 months of age and older averaged over a three-year period, unless epidemiologically determined otherwise.

27. (27) Official Animal Identification--A device or means of animal identification approved by USDA to uniquely identify individual animals. The official animal identification must include a nationally unique animal identification number that adheres to one of the following numbering systems:

    1. (A) National Uniform Eartagging System (NUES);
    2. (B) Animal Identification Number (AIN);
    3. (C) Premises-based number system using a Premises Identification Number (PIN) or Location Identification Number (LID) in conjunction with a livestock production numbering system; or
    4. (D) Any other numbering system approved by the commission for the identification of animals in commerce.
28. (28) Official CWD Test--A USDA-validated test of appropriate tissue samples for the diagnosis of CWD conducted in an approved laboratory.
29. (29) Premises Identification Number (PIN)--A nationally unique number assigned by the commission or USDA to a premises. Each PIN is a geographically distinct location associated with a verifiable physical address, geospatial coordinate, or other location descriptors.
30. (30) Quarantine--A written commission order and the action of restricting animal or animal product movement from or onto a premises because of the existence of or exposure to CWD.
31. (31) Release Facility--A privately owned, high-fenced premises where white-tailed deer or mule deer from a breeding facility are released for management as free-ranging animals. A release facility must be registered with and assigned a facility identification number (FID) by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
32. (32) Status Date--The day, month, and year the commission approves a change in herd status.
33. (33) TAHC Authorized Veterinarian--A veterinarian who is licensed to practice medicine in Texas, Category II accredited by USDA APHIS VS and has satisfactorily completed TAHC disease control or eradication program training pursuant to 4 TAC Chapter 47.
34. (34) Trace Herd--The term includes both trace-back and trace-forward herds. A trace-back herd is any herd that contributed an animal to a CWD-positive herd within the 5 years prior to the diagnosis of CWD in the positive herd. A trace-forward herd is any herd which has received animals from a CWD-positive herd during a 5-year period prior to the diagnosis of CWD in the positive herd or from the identified date of entry of CWD into the positive herd.

Source Note:The provisions of this §40.1 adopted to be effective August 22, 1999, 24 TexReg 6280; amended to be effective February 5, 2013, 38 TexReg 495; amended to be effective October 7, 2013, 38 TexReg 6911; amended to be effective October 14, 2021, 46 TexReg 6905.