Kansas City Veterinary Medical Association

USDA Beefs Up Veterinary Accreditation Program

by Jen Nigro

Private veterinarians will soon be better equipped to handle animal health emergencies thanks to new regulations now in place to strengthen the National Veterinary Accreditation Program, or NVAP. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service made changes to the program in December 2009 in an effort to improve disease preparedness and response to animal health emergencies. The federal government does not mandate accreditation; however, the USDA hopes the changes will help ease global concerns about the incidence of emerging disease, and stop new diseases from spreading in the U.S. more quickly.

Under the new NVAP guidelines, veterinarians who wish to maintain accreditation will have to renew every three years and participate in supplemental training. The revised program also has two species-based accreditation categories instead of one.

Veterinarians accredited prior to February 1, 2010 must apply to continue their accreditation. Veterinarians seeking accreditation for the first time can visit

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/vet_accreditation/ for more information about the process and how to get started.

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