"Protecting Our Animals, Protecting Our Communities"

The USDA NAHERC program is a national reserve emergency corp. that is composed of Veterinary Medical Officers (VMO), Veterinary Medical Students and Animal Health Technicians (AHT) that compose an elite cadre within Emergency Management response community.

The National Animal Health Emergency Response Corps (NAHERC) protects public health by providing a ready reserve of private and State veterinarians and animal health technicians to combat threats to U.S. livestock and poultry in the event of a large outbreak of an exotic or foreign animal disease. NAHERC staff can be activated and supplement existing USDA-APHIS employees for periods of 3 weeks for domestic deployments or 30 days for international deployments. These positions are paid upon activation of the NAHERC.

However, during a disaster, the size and scope of an incident can easily overwhelm conventional local animal health resources. The NAHERC is an Emergency Response organization designed to provide large scale federal assistance during an animal event. The NAHERC has been activated and has responded to the UK FMD outbreak of 2001, the 2003 END event in California and the 2002 low path AI in Virginia. When an animal health emergency occurs, an immediate response is necessary to protect both animals and people in support of the National Response Plan and Essential Support Function #11.

To qualify, NAHERC members must meet all qualification requirements at the time of application.