Board declines petition to require reporting of notifiable conditions detected in laboratory primates

The board declined a petition asking it to amend WAC 246.101 to require research facilities that house nonhuman primates to report cases, suspected outbreaks and individual animal findings of human‑notifiable pathogens. The petitioners — represented in public comment by Dr. Lisa Jones and advocacy organizations — said the current system leaves a surveillance gap when pathogens are identified in laboratory primates.

DOH and the Department of Agriculture explained the existing multi‑agency reporting framework in Washington: veterinarians and animal laboratories report animal disease to WSDA’s reportable animal disease system (RAD), and RAD forwards zoonotic findings to DOH when appropriate for public‑health follow-up. DOH staff and the state veterinarian told the board they had not identified a systemic reporting gap that would be closed by the requested rule, and they warned that adding MRSA or broad new reporting requirements would overwhelm current surveillance capacity. Member Chris Kutz moved that the board decline the petition; the motion passed with one abstention recorded (Kelly Oshiro).

Public commenters included scientists and clinicians pressing for rulemaking on the grounds that research primate infections have not consistently reached public‑health surveillance systems. Dr. Lisa Jones told the board, “The issue before you is that the currently, there is no reporting requirement to be redundant with,” citing cases where primate necropsy findings did not enter public health workflows. The board’s decision directs staff to notify the petitioners of the outcome and to continue coordinating with WSDA and DOH on reportable animal disease procedures.