As used in this chapter:
(A) "Administrator" means the head of the animal and plant health inspection service of the United States department of agriculture and any individual authorized by the administrator to act for the administrator.
(B) "Animal" means a sheep or goat.
(C) "Approved laboratory" means the national veterinary services laboratories and any other laboratory authorized by the administrator to conduct, on one or more tissues, approved tests for scrapie.
(D) "Area veterinarian in charge" means a veterinarian employed by the United States department of agriculture, animal and plant health inspection service (USDA, APHIS) to supervise and perform animal health work in Ohio.
(E) "Designated scrapie/TSE epidemiologist" means a state or federal epidemiologist designated by the United States department of agriculture, animal and plant health inspection service to make decisions about the use and interpretation of diagnostic tests, field investigation data and the management of scrapie affected flocks.
(F) "Electronic implant" means any radio-frequency identification implant device approved for use in the scrapie program by the administrator to be applied to animals other than RR sheep that are not removed from an exposed flock.
(G) "Exposed animal" means:
(1) An animal that has been in a flock or herd at the same time as another animal in the flock or herd that has been determined to be scrapie-positive unless the animal:
(a) Has either had limited contact with the scrapie-positive animal, or
(b) Has been determined by a designated scrapie epidemiologist to be a low risk animal.
(2) An animal that resided on the premises of a scrapie source or infected flock or herd before the flock or herd completes the requirements of a flock plan.
(H) "Exposed flock" means a flock that contains an exposed or suspect female animal; or a flock or herd that once contained either an exposed or suspect female animal and the animal was neither tested for scrapie nor tested and found negative for scrapie.
(I) "Flock" means:
(1) All animals kept on a single farm or in a single feedlot; and
(2) All animals under either common ownership or common supervision on two or more farms or feedlots when any animals move between the farms or feedlots; or
(3) Multiple flocks/herds may be maintained on a single premises if a state or APHIS representative determines, based on examination of the flock records and inspection of the farm/feedlot, that:
(a) There is no interchange of animals between the flocks;
(b) The flocks never commingle and are kept at least thirty feet apart at all times or are separated by a solid wall through, over, or under which fluids cannot pass and through which contact cannot occur;
(c) The flocks have separate flock records and identification;
(d) The flocks have separate lambing/kidding facilities, including buildings and pastures, and a pasture or building used for lambing/kidding by one flock is not used by the other flock at any time; and
(e) The flocks do not share equipment without cleaning and disinfection in accordance with the guidelines published in 9 CFR 54.7.
(J) "Flock Plan" means a written flock management agreement signed by the owner, the accredited veterinarian (if one is employed) and a state or federal representative in which each participant agrees to undertake specific actions to control/eradicate scrapie from an exposed, infected or source flock.
(K) "Infected flock" means any flock in which a state or federal representative has determined that a scrapie-positive female animal has resided unless an epidemiologic investigation conducted by a state or federal representative shows that the animal did not lamb or abort in the flock. A flock will no longer be considered an infected flock after it has completed the requirements of a flock plan.
(L) "Non-compliant flock" means:
(1) Any source or infected flock whose owner declines to enter into a flock plan or post exposure management and monitoring plan agreement within sixty days of being so designated or whose owner is not in compliance with either agreement;
(2) Any exposed flock whose owner fails to make animals available for testing within sixty days of notification, or as mutually agreed, or whose owner fails to submit required samples as directed in the post exposure management and monitoring plan;
(3) Any flock whose owner has misrepresented, or who employs a person who has misrepresented, the scrapie status of an animal or any other information on a certificate, permit, owner statement, or other official document within the last five years; or
(4) Any flock whose owner or manager has moved, or who employs a person who has moved, an animal in violation of 9 CFR 79 within the last five years.
(M) "Official eartag" means an identification eartag approved by the United States department of agriculture, animal and plant health inspection service as being sufficiently tamper resistant for the intended use and providing unique identification for each animal. An official eartag may conform to the alphanumeric national uniform ear-tagging system or another system approved by APHIS, or it may bear an APHIS approved premises identification number that either contains a unique animal identification number or is used in conjunction with the producer's livestock production numbering system to provide a unique identification number.
(N) "Post exposure management and monitoring plan (PEMMP)" means a written agreement signed by the owner, an accredited veterinarian (if one is employed) and a State or federal representative in which each participant agrees to undertake specific actions to reduce the risk of the occurrence of scrapie and to monitor for the occurrence of scrapie in the flock for at least five years after the last high-risk or scrapie-positive animal is removed or exposed to a scrapie-positive animal.
(O) "Scrapie positive animal" means an animal for which an approved test for scrapie has been conducted with positive results by the national veterinary services laboratory or another laboratory authorized by the administrator to conduct scrapie tests in accordance with 9 CFR 54 through any of the following methods:
(1) Histopathologic examination of CNS tissues from the animal for characteristic microscopic lesions of scrapie;
(2) Protease-resistant protein analysis methods including, but not limited to, immunohistochemistry and/or Western blotting on CNS and/or peripheral tissue samples from a live or dead animal. The method must have been approved by the administrator for use on that tissue;
(3) Biassay;
(4) Scrapie-associated fibrils detected by electron microscopy; or
(5) Any other test method approved by the administrator in accordance with 9 CFR 54.10.
(P) "Source flock/herd" means a flock or herd in which an animal born into the flock or herd was diagnosed as scrapie positive within seventy-two months of birth.
(Q) "Suspect animal" means:
(1) An animal which exhibits symptoms suggestive of scrapie; or,
(2) An animal, not designated as positive for scrapie, that tests positive to a live animal screening test for scrapie.
(R) "Symptoms suggestive of scrapie" means an animal which exhibits any of the following symptoms:
(1) Weight loss despite retention of appetite,
(2) Behavioral abnormalities,
(3) Pruritus,
(4) Wool pulling,
(5) Biting at its legs or sides,
(6) Lip smacking,
(7) Motor abnormalities such as:
(a) Incoordination,
(b) High stepping gate of forelimbs,
(c) Bunny hop movement of the rear legs,
(d) Swaying of the back end.
(8) Increased sensitivity to noise and sudden movement,
(9) Star gazing,
(10) Head pressing,
(11) Recumbency,
(12) Any other signs of neurological disease or chronic wasting.