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

The National Animal Health Emergency Response Corps (NAHERC) started in 2001 protects public health by providing a ready reserve of private and State veterinarians and veterinarian 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.  Previously NAHERC was activated and responded to the 2001 UK FMD outbreak, the 2003 Newcastle outbreak in California and the 2002 LPAI 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.