FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jesse Cordray, Press Secretary
Jesse.Cordray@iga.in.gov
317-232-9498
STATEHOUSE (Jan. 11, 2020) – A bill authored by State Sen. Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg) that would address the testing and reporting of diseased animals unanimously passed the Senate Committee on Agriculture today.
Under current law, if a veterinarian, owner, caretaker or custodian of an animal knows or suspects that an animal has a disease or condition that requires reporting to the state, the individual must report it to the state veterinarian or a local health officer within 48 hours.
Senate Bill 53 would instead require those individuals to report their findings within 24 hours. SB 53 would also require a laboratory or animal health professional to report the type of any tests performed as well as the positive diagnoses for certain diseases within 24 hours after a test renders a positive diagnosis.
"As we have experienced with combating COVID-19 – when an outbreak occurs, time is of the essence," Leising said. "With more than 56,000 farms across our state, it's important we have a framework in place that protects our state's agricultural interests in the event of a disease outbreak. SB 53 would ensure that when an animal sickness occurs, stakeholders work quickly to contain and mitigate the outbreak so that it doesn't do irreparable harm to the site of origin or to other farms across the state."
SB 53 will now be considered by the full Senate. To learn more about SB 53, click here.
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