This bill would create the Wildlife Health Coordination and Zoonotic Disease Program inside the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The program would be jointly run by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Its purpose is to improve coordination among Federal, State, and Tribal partners on wildlife health and diseases that can spread between animals and people (zoonotic diseases).
The bill would establish 1 National Wildlife Health Coordinator, 1 Tribal Wildlife Health Coordinator, and 4 Regional Wildlife Health Coordinators (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and West). The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies would appoint the national coordinator. The Native American Fish and Wildlife Society would appoint the tribal coordinator. Each regional association (Western, Midwest, Northeast, Southeastern) would appoint one regional coordinator. Coordinators must have expertise in wildlife health, veterinary science, epidemiology, or a related field. Appointments would use amounts made available through grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements provided to carry out this section.
Duties for the coordinators include serving as liaisons between Federal, State, and Tribal agencies; sharing information on existing and emerging wildlife diseases and disease threats to livestock and people; helping States and Tribes access resources and funding; coordinating testing, research, monitoring, surveillance, and management activities; developing and sharing best management practices (including voluntary guidance on humane dispatch, surveillance techniques, biosecurity, and public education); and submitting a report to Congress with recommendations to improve interagency coordination.
If enacted and funded, the bill would create named coordinator positions to improve information sharing, planning, and capacity building on wildlife diseases and zoonotic threats. State and Tribal agencies would have designated contacts to help access resources and coordinate with Federal agencies. No publicly available information on direct changes for individual households or specific local actions is provided in the bill text.
The bill authorizes $900,000 for fiscal year 2027 and each fiscal year thereafter to carry out this section. No publicly available information on broader cost estimates, budgetary offsets, or long-term fiscal projections is provided in the bill text.
The bill's findings state that zoonotic diseases are a significant threat, many new infectious diseases originate in wildlife, and spillover events are occurring more often. Supporters in the bill argue that increased coordination and permanent Wildlife Health Coordinators would facilitate communication, information sharing, surveillance, and resource access to protect public health, wildlife populations, and agricultural interests.
No publicly available information.