II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4365 

To provide public health veterinary services to Indian Tribes and Tribal 

organizations for rabies prevention, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 16, 2024 

Ms. MURKOWSKI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide public health veterinary services to Indian Tribes 

and Tribal organizations for rabies prevention, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterinary Services 

5 to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) human, animal, and environmental health 

9 are interdependent in Native communities, Alaska 

10 Native villages, and on Indian reservations, and hoVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Jun 03, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4365.IS S4365

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1 listic approaches to the well-being of all individuals 

2 will lead to improved health outcomes and enhanced 

3 resilience; 

4 (2) uncontrolled animal populations and a lack 

5 of veterinary care in Native communities, Alaska 

6 Native villages, and on Indian reservations increase 

7 the risk of parasites and zoonotic diseases, dog bites, 

8 food insecurity, and mental health issues among 

9 Alaska Natives and American Indians; 

10 (3) dog bites and other injuries are common in 

11 rural areas in the State of Alaska, with the Norton 

12 Sound Health Corporation reporting an average of 

13 87 bites per year in the Bering Strait region be14 tween 2016 and 2023, and the Yukon-Kuskokwim 

15 Health Corporation reporting an average of 98 bites 

16 per year in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region be17 tween 2008 and 2017; 

18 (4) Alaska Native children have the highest in19 cidence of hospitalization for dog bites in the Indian 

20 Health Service system; 

21 (5) in 2021, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, expe22 rienced co-occurring outbreaks of rabies and canine 

23 distemper; 

24 (6) canine distemper is almost 100 percent 

25 fatal in marine mammals, which the people of the 


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1 Native Villages of Savoonga and Gambell rely on 

2 heavily as a food source; 

3 (7) rabies is enzootic in arctic and red fox pop4 ulations in the northern and western coastal regions 

5 of the State of Alaska; 

6 (8) wildlife outbreaks occur cyclically, and there 

7 have been increased human exposures to rabid ani8 mals between 2020 and 2023; 

9 (9) rabies transmission is a significant threat in 

10 Alaska Native communities and villages; and 

11 (10) as of 2024, the Indian Health Service does 

12 not employ or use public health veterinarians to 

13 combat zoonotic disease outbreaks or to generally 

14 advance public health preparedness for Native com15 munities, Alaska Native villages, or Indian reserva16 tions, including by providing spay and neuter serv17 ices and vaccinations for animals. 

18 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con19 gress that the Indian Health Service of the Department 

20 of Health and Human Services is uniquely suited to em21 power Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations to address 

22 zoonotic disease threats in the communities they serve by 

23 providing public health veterinary services through a One 

24 Health approach that recognizes the interconnection beVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Jun 03, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4365.IS S4365

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1 tween people, animals, plants, and their shared environ2 ment. 

3 SEC. 3. PUBLIC HEALTH VETERINARY SERVICES. 

4 Title II of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act 

5 is amended by inserting after section 223 (25 U.S.C. 

6 1621v) the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 224. PUBLIC HEALTH VETERINARY SERVICES. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) PUBLIC HEALTH VETERINARY SERV10 ICES.—The term ‘public health veterinary services’ 

11 includes any of the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) spaying and neutering services for do13 mestic animals; 

14 ‘‘(B) diagnoses; 

15 ‘‘(C) surveillance; 

16 ‘‘(D) epidemiology; 

17 ‘‘(E) control; 

18 ‘‘(F) prevention; 

19 ‘‘(G) elimination; 

20 ‘‘(H) vaccination; and 

21 ‘‘(I) any other related service or activity 

22 that reduces the risk of zoonotic disease trans23 mission or antimicrobial resistance in humans, 

24 food, or animals. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ZOONOTIC DISEASE.—The term ‘zoonotic 

2 disease’ means a disease or infection that may be 

3 transmitted naturally from vertebrate animals to hu4 mans, or from humans to vertebrate animals. 

5 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION FOR VETERINARY SERVICES.— 

6 The Secretary, acting through the Service, may expend 

7 funds, directly or pursuant to the Indian Self-Determina8 tion and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5301 et 

9 seq.), for public health veterinary services to prevent and 

10 control of zoonotic disease infection and transmission in 

11 Service areas where the risk for disease occurrence in hu12 mans and wildlife is endemic. 

13 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICERS.—In providing pub14 lic health veterinary services under subsection (b), the Sec15 retary shall deploy veterinary public health officers from 

16 the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service to 

17 Service areas. 

18 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION.—The Secretary, acting through 

19 the Service, shall carry out this section in coordination 

20 with— 

21 ‘‘(1) the Director of the Centers for Disease 

22 Control and Prevention; and 

23 ‘‘(2) the Secretary of Agriculture. 

24 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to the 

25 Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate, the Committee 


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1 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, 

2 the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep3 resentatives, and the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

4 of the House of Representatives a biennial report on the 

5 use of funds, the assignment and deployment of veterinary 

6 public health officers from the Commissioned Corps of the 

7 Public Health Service, data related to the monitoring and 

8 disease surveillance of zoonotic diseases, and related serv9 ices provided under this section.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. APHIS WILDLIFE SERVICES STUDY ON ORAL RABIES 

11 VACCINES IN ARCTIC REGIONS OF THE 

12 UNITED STATES. 

13 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

14 of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall conduct a 

15 feasibility study— 

16 (1) on the delivery of oral rabies vaccines to 

17 wildlife reservoir species that are directly or indi18 rectly connected to the transmission of rabies to 

19 Tribal members living in Arctic regions of the 

20 United States; and 

21 (2) that— 

22 (A) evaluates the efficacy of the vaccines 

23 described in paragraph (1); and 

24 (B) makes recommendations to improve 

25 the delivery of those vaccines. 


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1 SEC. 5. ONE HEALTH FRAMEWORK. 

2 Section 2235(b) of the Prepare for and Respond to 

3 Existing Viruses, Emerging New Threats, and Pandemics 

4 Act (42 U.S.C. 300hh–37(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘and 

5 the Secretary of the Interior’’ and inserting ‘‘, the Sec6 retary of the Interior, and the Director of the Indian 

7 Health Service’’. 

Æ 


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