Permits and Movements

1

The 2014–2015 

Highly Pathogenic 

Avian Influenza (HPAI) Outbreak
Overview 

2

Introduction

Using EMRS 2.0

Outbreak Permitting Info

Outbreak Movement Info
3

INTRODUCTION 

PERMITTING and 

MOVEMENTS
EMRS 2.0

The Emergency Management 

Response System (EMRS) 2.0 is the 

system of record for disease 

incidents, including HPAI in the 

United States.

Data should be entered into EMRS in 

a timely and accurate manner.

4

Introduction
Using EMRS for Permitting and Movement

 Initial qualification for movement (e.g., biosecurity 

requirements for the Secure Food Supply Plans) may be 

tracked/kept in any IT system.

 When a Control Area (aka Control Zone) is established, 

the outbreak should be managed in EMRS.

 The request for permit and approval process can be 

tracked in EMRS.

 Permits may be issued using mail merge templates within 

EMRS.

 If alternate means of tracking permits for premises in the 

Control Area is used (not ideal), these are recorded in 

EMRS via a process for express import.

5

Introduction
6

Secure Food Supply Plans for Poultry Implemented

 Secure Food Supply Plan recommendations helped animals and 

products keep moving during the outbreak.

 Typically, depending on the movement, 2 negative rRT-PCR 

tests were required; one within 24 hours of movement.

 These items and their movements were permitted, issued, and 

recorded successfully in EMRS.

 Successful collaboration between States (both sending and 

receiving product), the Unified Incident Command, and APHIS.

Introduction
 Permits can be created for a single movement or can 

be created and approved for multiple movements 

between the same two premises.

– Each movement requires an update.

– Check requirements, report # of items, record date.

 If testing or additional visits are required for 

movement these can be monitored and viewed in 

EMRS.

 If daily mortality reports are required for movement 

they can be uploaded into EMRS as attachments.

7

Basic Information

Introduction
What are Permits?

8

Origin

Premises

Destination

Premises

Intrastate

Interstate

Introduction
Examples of Permitted Movement

 Out of Control Area:

– Hatching eggs to hatchery or processor.

– Movement of Control Area birds.

– Movement of day old poults.

– Nest run eggs.

– Product moving out of Control Area.

 Into Control Area:

– Birds into Control Area for slaughter.

– Birds moved into Control Area.

– Feed into Control Area.

– Wood shavings into Control Area.

 Some movements require diagnostic testing prior to movement. 

9

Introduction
National Permitting Unit

10 Introduction

 During the HPAI outbreak, a National Permitting Unit 

was established.

 This unit could complete the entire permitting 

process.

 Based in Ft. Collins.

 Point of contact for all 

permitting data entry and 

questions.

 Reviewer role required to 

review and approve permits 

in EMRS.
National Permitting Unit for Intrastate 

Movements

 Created rapid (express) permit approval process.

 Produced permitted movement forms and sent to 

States for addition of tests if needed and distribution 

to producer.

 Completed entire process on behalf of State 

including adding test results and distributing to 

producers.

 Back-entered permit information into EMRS for 

permits produced outside of EMRS.

11 Introduction
National Permitting Unit for Interstate 

Movements

 Received reviewed permit from Origin State.

 Approved on behalf of Destination State, returned to Origin 

State who then produced permitted forms, attached tests if 

needed, and distributed to producer.

 Created and express approved permits (reviewed on behalf of 

Origin State, approved on behalf of Destination State); 

produced permitted movement form and sent to Origin State 

for addition of tests if needed and distributed to producer.

 Completed entire process on behalf of origin and destination 

States; added test results and distributed to producers.

 Back-entered permit information into EMRS for permits 

produced outside of EMRS.

12 Introduction
13

EMRS 2.0

PERMITTING and 

MOVEMENTS
Permitting Workflow

EMRS 2.0 14

Origin State 

Receives Request 

for Permitted 

Movement from 

Producer

Origin State Enters 

Permit into EMRS 

Origin State 

Reviews Permit

Origin State 

Notifies 

Destination State

Destination State 

Approves (or 

Rejects) Permit

Destination State 

Notifies Origin 

State of Decision

Origin State 1) Produces Permitted Movement Forms, 2) Attaches Testing 

Information if Needed, and 3) Distributes to Producers
Prerequisites for Permits in EMRS

 Intrastate:

– Origin and Destination Premises must be in EMRS.

– Both premises must have an Animal Business.

– Both premises must have an Investigation.

 Interstate:

– Origin premises must be in EMRS, with an Animal Business and 

Investigation.

– Basic destination information is entered into EMRS by the Origin 

State.

– Destination Premises, Animal Business, and Investigation must 

be entered by Destination State if not already in EMRS when 

they approve the permit.

EMRS 2.0 15
Permitted Movements

 Out of Control Area

 Into Control Area

EMRS 2.0 16
Four Simple Elements of Permitting

EMRS 2.0 17

Request

Review

Approval ( Regular or Express)

Movement ( Single or Multiple)
Overview of Steps for a Permit Request

 Go to the Investigation in EMRS.

 Add an Investigation Follow-Up: “Create a Permit”

 Enter a Reason (e.g., Out of Control Area).

 Enter Items Permitted.

 Enter Estimated Shipments.

 Enter Permit Destination Information.

EMRS 2.0 18
EMRS 2.0 19

Go to Investigation
EMRS 2.0 20

Add Follow-Up
21

Reason

EMRS 2.0

Common reasons for permit during 

outbreak:

 Out of Control Area/Zone

 Into Commerce

 Direct to Farm
22

Items To Permit

EMRS 2.0
23

Estimated Shipments

EMRS 2.0
EMRS 2.0 24

Permit Destination Information
EMRS 2.0 25
Overview of Steps to Review Permit

 Review permit; recommend approval or denial.

 Send email link to permit to Destination State.

 The following must be completed by Destination 

State:

– Destination Premises is in EMRS.

– Animal Business is in EMRS for Destination Premises.

– Investigation is in EMRS for Animal Business.

EMRS 2.0 26
Review Permit 

(Requires Reviewer Role in EMRS)

EMRS 2.0 27
EMRS 2.0 28

Email Link to Destination State
Email Link

EMRS 2.0 29
Destination State: 

Verify Required Information is in EMRS

30

Verify Premises is in EMRS 

& has an Animal Business 

and Investigation.

EMRS 2.0
Overview of Steps to Approve Permit

 After permit is reviewed,

 And the Destination Premises, Animal Business, and 

Investigation is in EMRS,

 The permit can be approved by Destination State.

 Link to approved permit sent to Origin State.

 Or, the permit can be rejected by the Destination 

State.

 Link regarding permit rejection sent to Origin State.

EMRS 2.0 31
EMRS 2.0 32

Approve Permit
EMRS 2.0 33
EMRS 2.0 34

Email Link to Origin State
Email Link to Approved Permit

EMRS 2.0 35
Or, Reject Permit

EMRS 2.0 36
EMRS 2.0 37

Email Link to Origin State
Email Link to Rejected Permit

EMRS 2.0 38
Movements: Enter Permitted Movement

 Simply involves adding a movement to an existing permit.

 Each movement inherits the parameters of the approved permit and is 

very light data entry. 

 This requires only that the producer reports an intended movement and 

the issuance of permitted movement document by the origin state.

EMRS 2.0 39
Issue a Permit for Movement

40

 There are mail merge templates for 

various permit types. Can be 

distributed multiple ways to the 

origin and destination states and/or 

directly to producer. 

 The approval may cover a one time 

movement or multiple movements 

over a time span.

EMRS 2.0
Iowa Permit Example

EMRS 2.0 41
42

Minnesota Permit Example

EMRS 2.0
Permitted Movement Form

EMRS 2.0 43
Complete Permitted Movement 

 Allows for confirming actual movement occurred and animals 

or product received if needed. A workflow is available to 

automatically enter movements as complete 24 hours after 

scheduled.

EMRS 2.0 44
Review

 Introduction to Permitting

 National Permitting Unit

 Permitting in EMRS

– Creating a Permit Request

o Adding Origin and Destination Premises to EMRS

– Approving/Rejecting a Permit Request

– Creating a Permitted Movement

– Producing a Permitted Movement Form

EMRS 2.0 45
46

OUTBREAK PERMITTING

HPAI 2014–2015 
Permitting Summary of Outbreak

 During this HPAI outbreak, permits were issued from EMRS for 

movement into/within/out of Control Areas. 

– Any permit may have one or more independent movements of the same 

item associated with it, depending on the type and scope of the permit 

issued. As such, there will be more “movements” in an outbreak than 

“permits” issued.

– Each movement has to meet specific requirements. 

– As such, there will be more “movements” in an outbreak than “permits” 

issued. 

– Both permits and movements are entered into EMRS. 

– Data entered through 9/7/2015.

 Earliest permit approved 2/14/2015. 

 Most recent permit approved for movement on 9/4/2015.

 *All data is from 9/8/2015, the last published Permitting & Movement 

Information Report*

Permitting 47
By Reason for Permit

 About 7,000 permits for movement were authorized, most from 

Minnesota (~2,740) and Iowa (~3,400). 

 Successful National Permitting Unit established for rapid and accurate 

data entry in Ft. Collins.

48

2257

1413

1161

587 450 303 188 165 152 121 28 28 27 24 13 12 6 2

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

(6,937 Permits)

Permitting
By Item Permitted

49

2329

1739

941 875

598

418

19 16 1 1 1

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

(6,938 Permits)

Permitting
By Reason for Permit and Item Permitted

50

2257

1413

1161

587

450

303 188 165 152 121 28 28 27 24 13 12 6 2

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

(6,937 Permits) 

Groups of animals

Product

Feed

Eggs

Other

Manure/ Litter

Semen/Embryos

Truck/Conveyance

Animals without ID

Milk

Hay/Forage

Permitting
By State of Origin

51

3321

2740

513

127 93 30 29 19 15 13 7 5 4 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

(6,932 Permits)

Permitting
By State of Destination 

52

2125

1737

351284283220183175126104 89 82 74 71 63 63 60 59 59 56 45 44 43 41 40 36 36 35 33 30 30

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Iowa

Minnesota

Wisconsin

Missouri

California

Texas

Nebraska

Illinois

Florida

New York

Pennsylvania

Montana

Arkansas

Maine

Oklahoma

Virginia

South Dakota

Colorado

Ohio

Indiana

Arizona

Washington

Tennessee

North Carolina

Utah

Georgia

Idaho

Kansas

Michigan

New Mexico

Oregon

Only States with 30 permits or more (State of Destination) are illustrated.

 49 States & the U.S. Virgin Islands are represented (NJ, NH, LA, MD, MA, SC, 

AL, CT, NV, WY, AK, ND, KY, V.I., MS, VT, RI, and DE are not illustrated).

(6,938 Permits)

Permitting
53

OUTBREAK MOVEMENTS

HPAI 2014–2015 
Movement Summary of Outbreak

 Earliest movement on 12/22/2014. 

 Last movement currently entered was anticipating 

transfer on 9/10/2015.

 Each movement is included in only one category.

 However, these categories may not be mutually 

exclusive. 

– For example, “Out of Control Zone” may also be a product 

moving “In Commerce.”

 *All data is from 9/8/2015, the last published 

Permitting & Movement Information Report*

Movements 54
By Movement Reason

Movements 55

6161

4517

2395

1820

1234 1203 1137

745 610 493 400

80 55 53 50 21 16 2

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

(20,992 Movements)
By Item Moved

Movements 56

6638 6636

3496

2814

938

258 201 15 1

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

(20,997 Movements)
By State of Origin

57

13615

3976

2236

497 370 110 70 54 21 14 13 5 5 4 2 2 1 1 1

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

MN IA WI NE MO CA AR SD ND OH KS ID PA GA IL TN IN OR WV

(20,997 Movements)

Movements
By State of Destination

58

10145

3073

1210

812760665503373359221195185157151133132127123121118107 97 89 88 84 80 77 72 71 69 68 65 60 58 52 47 37

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

MN

IA

WI

NECA

MO

TX

IL

FL

PA

NY

OH

WA

MI

AR

IN

UT

OR

AZ

CO

SD

MT

NJ

VA

NC

ME

OK

KS

GA

TN

MA

ND

LA

MD

ID

NM

NV

Only States with 35 movements or more (State of destination) are illustrated.

48 States and the U.S. Virgin Islands are represented (CT, NH, SC, WY, AL, KY, 

AK, MS, V.I., DE, VT, and RI are not illustrated).

(20,997 Movements)

WI

1210

Movements

MN

10145

IA

3073
Items Moved Out of Control Areas

 Continuity of business helps to facilitate agriculture and food industries 

maintain typical business, or return to business during a disease response, 

while the risk of disease spread and threat to public health is effectively 

managed.

59

6106

1798

127 2 1 1 1

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

MN WI IA SD IN MO ND

(8,036 Movements)

Product

Feed

Groups of animals

Eggs

Other

Manure/ Litter

Semen/Embryos

Hay/Forage

Movements
Facilities with High-Volume of Movements, by 

Movement Reason per Facility 

60

899

1181

1599 1689

1152

3595

678

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

Facility 1 Facility 2 Facility 3 Facility 4 Facility 5 Facility 6 Facility 7

Only businesses with more than 600 movements are illustrated.

 Five of these facilities are in MN, one is in WI, and one in IA.

 These movements make up 51% of all movements.

(10,793 Movements)

Out of Control

Zone

In Commerce

Feed Out of

Control Zone

Direct to Farm

Feed Into Control

Zone

Within Control

Zone

Quarantine

Into Control Zone

Direct to Slaughter

Direct to Landfill

Direct to

Incineration

Direct to Hatchery

Movements
Facilities with High-Volume Movements, by Items 

Moved per Facility Out of Control Area

61

303

984

459

1557

16

2791

250

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Facility 1 Facility 2 Facility 3 Facility 4 Facility 5 Facility 6 Facility 7

Only businesses with more than 600 movements are illustrated.

Five of these facilities ore in MN, one is in WI, and one in IA.

These movements make up approximately 80% of all movements out of Control Areas during the outbreak.

(6,360 Movements) 

Product

Feed

Groups of

animals

Other

Movements
Further Details on Movements

 A large percentage of movements were movements out 

of the Control Area:

– May 29, 2015: 61%

– June 25, 2015: 52%

– July 22, 2015: 39%

– September 8, 2015: 38%

 Overall, in terms of total number of movement, seven 

facilities (five in MN, one in WI, and one in IA) made up

– 51% of all movements

– 80% of all movements out of Control Areas during the outbreak.

62

61%

52%

39% 38%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

May 29 June 25 July 22 September 8

Movements
Thanks to all who helped 

control HPAI in the United 

States.

EMRS slides courtesy of the EMRS Staff.

63