This bill adds a new section to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act that allows the Indian Health Service (IHS) to provide and pay for public health veterinary services for Tribes and Tribal organizations. "Public health veterinary services" in the bill include spaying and neutering, diagnoses, surveillance, epidemiology, control, prevention, elimination, vaccination, and other services that reduce zoonotic disease spread or antimicrobial resistance. The bill defines "zoonotic disease" as infections that can move between vertebrate animals and people.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, through IHS, may spend funds directly or through Tribal self-determination contracts to provide these services in areas where zoonotic disease risk is endemic. The bill allows assignment or deployment of veterinary public health officers from the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps to IHS service areas. It also requires coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Secretary of Agriculture. IHS must send a biennial report to several congressional committees on fund use, officer assignments, disease monitoring data, and related services.
The bill also directs the Secretary of Agriculture to complete a feasibility study within one year on delivering oral rabies vaccines to wildlife reservoir species connected to rabies transmission to Tribal members in Arctic regions. The study must evaluate vaccine efficacy and recommend ways to improve vaccine delivery. Finally, the bill adds the Director of the Indian Health Service to a listed group in the One Health framework statute.
If you live in a Tribal community served by IHS, this bill would authorize IHS to provide veterinary services aimed at preventing and controlling diseases that pass between animals and people, including rabies. Services named in the bill include vaccinations, spay/neuter programs, disease testing, and surveillance. The bill also enables deployment of federal veterinary public health officers and coordination with CDC and USDA. For Arctic Tribal communities, the bill orders a USDA study on oral rabies vaccines for wildlife.
If you are not in a Tribal service area, the bill does not directly create new services for you. It does require IHS to report on activities and data every two years to Congress.
The bill authorizes the Secretary to expend funds for these services and allows use of self-determination contracts, but it does not include specific appropriation amounts or cost estimates. No publicly available information on total costs or appropriations is included in the bill text or metadata.
The bill states the Sense of Congress that the Indian Health Service is well suited to help Tribes address zoonotic disease threats using a One Health approach that links people, animals, plants, and the environment. Supporters in the bill text emphasize providing veterinary public health services, coordinating with CDC and USDA, and studying oral rabies vaccine delivery in Arctic regions.
No publicly available information on opposition viewpoints is included in the bill text or metadata.