The American Sheep Industry Association is cooperating with the U.S. Department of Agriculture?s, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to help sheep producers, who are interested, have their rams genotyped for scrapie susceptibility/resistance. Beginning May 1, 2005, until Sept. 15, 2005, or when the funds are exhausted (whichever comes first), producers in states that do not have State-APHIS cooperative ram genotyping programs* will be eligible for a cost-share reimbursement for genotyping up to 10 of their rams.
Producers will need to have an accredited veterinarian collect blood samples from their rams on or after May 1, 2005. The veterinarian will then send the sample to an APHIS-approved laboratory along with a properly completed ?APHIS VS Form 5-29.? Producers can choose to have their samples sent to any APHIS-approved lab. An original form (not a photocopy) must be completely and accurately filled-out to receive a reimbursement. Original forms are issued to accredited veterinarians by APHIS and have several colored carbon pages and a unique serial number in the upper-right corner. This form must be signed by your veterinarian. Send just one of the carbon copies of the ?APHIS VS Form 5-29? to ASI with a note requesting a cost-share return. ASI will, in turn, send a check for $12.00 per ram tested to the producer to help offset the cost of the test.
States that do not have State-APHIS cooperative genotyping programs (producers from these states are eligible to participate in this program) are: *Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Missouri, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Vermont. Producers in states not listed above should contact their state veterinarian regarding participation in their State program.
Please visit www.sheepusa.org and click on the link for scrapie to view updated information about this program.