Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act

The bill authorizes the Indian Health Service to provide a comprehensive suite of public health veterinary services —including spay/neuter, diagnosis, surveillance, epidemiology, control, prevention, elimination, and vaccination—to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations. These services are intended to reduce zoonotic disease transmission and antimicrobial resistance in tribal communities. The authorization allows the Secretary to allocate funds directly or through the Indian Self‑Determination and Education Assistance Act. The Act permits deployment of veterinary public health officers from the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and requires coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Secretary of Agriculture. It mandates biennial reporting on fund usage, officer deployment, and disease surveillance data. A separate provision requires the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a feasibility study within one year on oral rabies vaccine delivery to wildlife in Arctic regions, assessing efficacy and recommending improvements. The One Health framework is expanded to include the Secretary of Interior and the Director of Indian Health Service, strengthening interagency collaboration.