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Cancellation of the Lymph Node Testing to Complement the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System

FSIS Notice 45-21
Issue Date Oct 13, 2021
Expiration Date Nov 01, 2022
Full Notice
FSIS Notice 45-21
  1. PURPOSE
    This notice informs Public Health Veterinarians (PHVs) at beef slaughter establishments that FSIS has cancelled sampling and testing of mesenteric lymph nodes from cattle (Dairy Cows, Beef Cows, Steers, and Heifers).  
  2. SUSPENSION OF FSIS SAMPLING CODES
    1. The Agency began sampling mesenteric lymph nodes from cattle in January 2020, under FSIS Notice 04-20, Lymph Node Testing to Complement the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) Program.  FSIS has collected sufficient data to determine that it no longer needs to collect samples of these lymph nodes.  FSIS has conducted a preliminary analysis of the lymph node results.  A further analysis will be done with a complete data set in FY2022.  The results and analysis will be included in FSIS and FDA NARMS reports and will be available on the FSIS website in FY2022/2023.  
    2. Effective October 1, 2021, PHVs will no longer receive sampling tasks for the following project codes: NARMS_DC_MLN, NARMS_BC_MLN, NARMS_ST_MLN, NARMS_HF_MLN.
    3. Upon issuance of this notice, PHV's are to cancel any remaining sampling tasks for any of the above project codes, selecting “Not collected for miscellaneous reasons” as the reason for cancellation.
    4. This cancellation of lymph node sampling does not affect any other NARMS sampling tasks.
  3. QUESTIONS
    Refer questions regarding this notice to your supervisor or as needed to the Office of Policy and Program Development through askFSIS or by telephone at 1-800-233-3935.  When submitting a question, complete the web form and select Sampling as the Inquiry Type.

    NOTE:  Refer to FSIS Directive 5620.1, Using askFSIS, for additional information on submitting questions.