II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4963 

To support Federal, State, and Tribal coordination and management efforts 

relating to wildlife disease and zoonotic disease surveillance and ongoing 

and potential wildlife disease and zoonotic disease outbreaks, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2024 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. LUJA ́N, Ms. SMITH, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To support Federal, State, and Tribal coordination and management efforts relating to wildlife disease and zoonotic 

disease surveillance and ongoing and potential wildlife 

disease and zoonotic disease outbreaks, 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 ‘‘Wildlife-Agriculture 

5 Disease Prevention Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) zoonotic diseases are a significant threat to 

2 human populations, livestock, domestic animals, and 

3 wildlife, which is evidenced by the fact that— 

4 (A) more than 6 out of every 10 known in5 fectious diseases in human populations origi6 nated in animals; and 

7 (B) 3 out of every 4 new or emerging in8 fectious diseases in human populations origi9 nate from animals; 

10 (2) zoonotic diseases are capable of transmit11 ting between wildlife, livestock, domestic animals, 

12 and human populations; 

13 (3) the majority of recent emerging infectious 

14 diseases have originated in wildlife; 

15 (4) zoonotic disease spillover events are occur16 ring more frequently; 

17 (5) many wildlife diseases and zoonotic dis18 eases, such as highly pathogenic avian influenza, are 

19 highly transmissible and have spilled over to live20 stock and domestic animals; 

21 (6) chronic wasting disease is transmissible be22 tween wild and captive deer and elk; 

23 (7) bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis spilled 

24 over from cattle to wildlife; 


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1 (8) outbreaks of wildlife diseases and zoonotic 

2 diseases have significant adverse effects on the 

3 United States economy, with the 2022 avian flu out4 break resulting in economic costs of $3,000,000,000; 

5 (9) outbreaks of wildlife diseases and zoonotic 

6 diseases pose a significant public health threat and 

7 may lead to a public health emergency; 

8 (10) the Department of Agriculture, Depart9 ment of the Interior, and Centers for Disease Con10 trol and Prevention play distinct but complementary 

11 roles in the prevention, detection, control, and re12 sponse to wildlife diseases and zoonotic diseases; 

13 (11) State fish and wildlife agencies exercise 

14 primary statutory authority over the management of 

15 fish and wildlife as public trust resources within 

16 their borders; 

17 (12) the Department of Agriculture is primarily 

18 responsible for safeguarding the health of livestock, 

19 developing and conducting monitoring and surveil20 lance for livestock diseases, and preventing the 

21 spread of diseases that pose a threat to the agricul22 tural industry; 

23 (13) the Department of the Interior has a re24 sponsibility to develop monitoring and surveillance 

25 techniques for highly pathogenic avian influenza and 


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1 other emerging wildlife diseases, including diseases 

2 with zoonotic potential; 

3 (14) the Centers for Disease Control and Pre4 vention is the leading public health agency respon5 sible for— 

6 (A) monitoring and responding to human 

7 health threats posed by wildlife diseases and 

8 zoonotic diseases; and 

9 (B) conducting surveillance and research 

10 and providing guidance to prevent and control 

11 the spread of wildlife diseases and zoonotic dis12 eases to and among humans; 

13 (15) increased coordination and collaboration 

14 between Federal, State, and Tribal agencies with re15 spect to wildlife disease and zoonotic disease efforts 

16 is necessary to adequately monitor and respond to 

17 ongoing and potential wildlife disease and zoonotic 

18 disease outbreaks; 

19 (16) establishing a Agriculture-Wildlife Disease 

20 Coordinator as an intermediary between the Depart21 ment of Agriculture, the Department of the Interior, 

22 and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

23 would facilitate communication, information sharing, 

24 and coordinated efforts to prevent, detect, and reVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Aug 31, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4963.IS S4963

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1 spond to wildlife disease and zoonotic disease out2 breaks; and 

3 (17) the coordinated efforts described in para4 graph (16) are essential to protect public health, 

5 wildlife populations, and agricultural interests from 

6 the impacts of wildlife diseases and zoonotic dis7 eases. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) AGRICULTURE-WILDLIFE DISEASE COORDI11 NATOR.—The term ‘‘Agriculture-Wildlife Disease 

12 Coordinator’’ means the individual appointed to the 

13 position established by section 4(a). 

14 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

15 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

16 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

17 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

18 (3) LIVESTOCK.—The term ‘‘livestock’’ has the 

19 meaning given the term in section 10403 of the Ani20 mal Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8302). 

21 (4) WILDLIFE DISEASE.—The term ‘‘wildlife 

22 disease’’ means any infectious disease originating in 

23 wildlife that can be transmitted, directly or indi24 rectly, from an infected animal, host or vector, inani25 mate source, or any other source to non-human aniVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Aug 31, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4963.IS S4963

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1 mals, including wildlife, livestock, and domestic ani2 mals. 

3 (5) ZOONOTIC DISEASE.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘zoonotic dis5 ease’’ means any disease that is naturally trans6 missible between animals and humans. 

7 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘zoonotic dis8 ease’’ includes a wildlife disease. 

9 SEC. 4. AGRICULTURE-WILDLIFE DISEASE COORDINATOR. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

11 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service a position, to 

12 be known as the ‘‘Agriculture-Wildlife Disease Coordi13 nator’’, to be jointly appointed by the Director of the 

14 United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Adminis15 trator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 

16 to serve as a liaison between the Department of the Inte17 rior, the Department of Agriculture, the Centers for Dis18 ease Control and Prevention, the Department of Home19 land Security, and other relevant Federal, State, and Trib20 al agencies, as determined necessary by the Director of 

21 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Ad22 ministrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

23 Service. 

24 (b) QUALIFICATION.—The Agriculture-Wildlife Dis25 ease Coordinator shall have expertise in wildlife health, agVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Aug 31, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4963.IS S4963

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1 ricultural animal veterinary science, epidemiology, or an2 other related field. 

3 (c) DUTIES.—The Agriculture-Wildlife Disease Coor4 dinator shall— 

5 (1) establish relationships with relevant Fed6 eral, State, and Tribal agencies to carry out the pur7 poses of this Act; 

8 (2) facilitate information sharing about existing 

9 and emerging wildlife disease, including disease in 

10 livestock and domestic animals, and zoonotic disease 

11 outbreaks between States, including State depart12 ments of agriculture, environment, natural re13 sources, fish and wildlife, and public health and 

14 State animal health officials, Indian Tribes, the Na15 tional Animal Health Laboratory Network, the Na16 tional Wildlife Health Center of the United States 

17 Geological Survey, the Department of Agriculture, 

18 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the 

19 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the De20 partment of Homeland Security, and other relevant 

21 Federal agencies, as determined by the Director of 

22 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the 

23 Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health In24 spection Service; 


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1 (3) assist States and Indian Tribes in accessing 

2 resources, including applying for funding, to work on 

3 wildlife disease issues, including diseases— 

4 (A) with potential to transmit between 

5 wildlife and livestock or domestic animals; and 

6 (B) with zoonotic potential; 

7 (4) coordinate— 

8 (A) between States, including State depart9 ments of agriculture, environment, natural re10 sources, fish and wildlife, and public health and 

11 State animal health officials, and Federal agen12 cies; and 

13 (B) with other relevant entities engaged in 

14 wildlife disease and zoonotic disease testing, 

15 monitoring, surveillance, and management ac16 tivities, including entities convened by the Asso17 ciation of Fish and Wildlife Agencies; 

18 (5) develop and share best management prac19 tices relating to wildlife diseases and zoonotic dis20 eases prepared by the Department of Agriculture, 

21 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the 

22 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 

23 State and Tribal agencies between those Federal 

24 agencies and State and Tribal agencies, including 

25 State departments of agriculture, environment, natVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Aug 31, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4963.IS S4963

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1 ural resources, fish and wildlife, and public health 

2 and State animal health officials; and 

3 (6) submit to Congress a report on rec4 ommendations for improving interagency coordina5 tion and additional resources necessary to address 

6 and prevent wildlife disease and zoonotic disease 

7 outbreaks. 

8 (d) BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES.—Best manage9 ment practices developed and shared under subsection 

10 (c)(5) may include voluntary guidance relating to the hu11 mane dispatch of animals in the field, surveillance and 

12 monitoring techniques, biosecurity and biosafety meas13 ures, public education, and other information, as deter14 mined necessary by the Agriculture-Wildlife Disease Coor15 dinator. 

16 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

18 such sums as are necessary for fiscal year 2025 and each 

19 fiscal year thereafter. 

Æ 


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