Section 16-54-180. Wild and exotic animals—Importation and testing requirements.

Import health requirements.

(1) Wild and exotic animals entering Washington state must be accompanied by a certificate of veterinary inspection issued by an accredited veterinarian licensed in the state of origin, or accompanied by an international certificate of health unless the animals are prohibited under chapter 16.30 RCW or 232-12 WAC.

(2) All wild and exotic animals must be accompanied by an entry permit.

Import test requirements.

(3) Brucellosis: Within thirty days before entering Washington state, negative serologic testing must be conducted on the following categories of captive wild or exotic animals that are more than six months of age:

Table 1.

Wild and exotic animals that must be tested for brucellosis

(4) Tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis):

(a) Animals less than six months of age that are nursing negative tested dams may be excluded from tuberculosis test requirements.

(b) Within thirty days before entering Washington state, the animals listed in the following table must test negative for M. bovis and M. tuberculosis by a skin test or other approved test that follows federal tuberculosis protocols:

Table 2.

Wild and exotic animals that must be tested for tuberculosis

(c) Cervidae, such as elk, deer, caribou, moose, and reindeer and Giraffidae, such as giraffe and okapi, must be from herds not known to be infected with, exposed to, or affected by tuberculosis. They must also test negative for M. bovis using the testing requirements defined in Title 9 C.F.R. Part 77.33 (January 1, 2014).

(d) For all captive wild or exotic animals not listed in Table 2 of this section, the following statement signed by the animal's owner or agent must be placed on the official certificate of veterinary inspection:

"To my knowledge, the animals listed on this certificate are not infected with tuberculosis and have not been exposed to animals infected with tuberculosis during the past twelve months."

(5) Pseudorabies: All wild swine imported for zoos, exhibitions or to a research facility must test negative for pseudorabies no more than thirty days before entry into Washington state and must be held in quarantine for thirty to sixty days pending a postentry retest.

(6) Equine infectious anemia: All wild horses, donkeys, and hybrids of the family Equidae must test negative on an approved test for equine infectious anemia no more than six months before entry into Washington state.

(7) Elaphostrongylinae (Parelophostrongylus tenvis (meningeal worm) and Elaphostrongylus cervis (muscle worm)): Before entering Washington state, all Cervidae must be examined for Elaphostrongylinae infection in the absence of anthelminthic treatment that could mask detection of the parasite.

(a) All Cervidae residing for at least six months west of a line through the eastern boundaries of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas or geographical boundaries as otherwise designated by the state veterinarian must have a negative fecal exam for dorsal-spined larvae made by an approved laboratory using the Baermann technique. Animals must be certified that they have not been treated with or exposed to anthelminthics for at least thirty days before testing.

(b) All Cervidae residing for less than six months west of a line through the eastern boundaries of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas or geographical boundaries as otherwise designated by the state veterinarian or from east of that line must be held in a preentry quarantine for thirty to sixty days and have two fecal tests for dorsal-spined larvae made by an approved laboratory using the Baermann technique.

(i) The first test must be conducted at least thirty days and not more than forty days before the second test.

(ii) Fecal samples of at least thirty grams per sample are to be collected by an accredited veterinarian from the animal's rectum and identified by the animal's official identification number.

(iii) During the thirty-day testing period, test animals must be held in quarantine and isolated from all other Cervidae not included in the shipment.

(iv) If any animal tests positive to either of the two fecal tests, neither that animal nor any other animal held in quarantine with the infected animal may be imported into Washington state.

(c) All imported Cervidae must be held for one hundred eighty days in an on-site quarantine and be available for inspection by the director during this time.

(d) Every thirty, sixty, ninety, one hundred twenty, one hundred fifty, and one hundred eighty days after arrival, fecal samples from the animals must be tested by the Baermann technique in an approved laboratory and be found negative for dorsal-spined larvae. Animals that test positive for dorsal-spined larvae must either be removed from Washington state or destroyed.

(e) To prevent the presence of the gastropod intermediate hosts of Elaphostrongylinae larvae, the quarantine site must be prepared and inspected before the imported animals enter. Preparation includes:

(i) Providing a hard surface, such as asphalt or concrete, on which to keep the animals;

(ii) Spraying the quarantine area with an EPA-registered molluscicide; and

(iii) Spraying a four-meter wide tract around the perimeter of the holding compound with an EPA-registered molluscicide. This perimeter tract must be treated once every five days and within twenty-four hours of precipitation (10 mm or more) to ensure that the gastropod population is kept to zero within the compound.

(8) Rabies: Any carnivorous mammal taken from the wild is prohibited from entering Washington state if rabies has been diagnosed in the state of origin during the past twelve months.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 16.36.040 and chapter 34.05 RCW. WSR 16-23-108, § 16-54-180, filed 11/18/16, effective 12/19/16; WSR 15-02-025, § 16-54-180, filed 12/30/14, effective 1/30/15. Statutory Authority: Chapters 16.36 and 34.05 RCW. WSR 10-13-153, § 16-54-180, filed 6/23/10, effective 7/24/10; WSR 07-14-056, § 16-54-180, filed 6/28/07, effective 7/29/07.]

RCW 16.36.040 and chapter 34.05 RCW. WSR 16-23-108, § 16-54-180, filed 11/18/16, effective 12/19/16; WSR 15-02-025, § 16-54-180, filed 12/30/14, effective 1/30/15. Statutory Authority: Chapters 16.36 and 34.05 RCW. WSR 10-13-153, § 16-54-180, filed 6/23/10, effective 7/24/10; WSR 07-14-056, § 16-54-180, filed 6/28/07, effective 7/29/07.

Rules

232-12,