Canada’s agency for food safety is encouraged with cattle industry response to a new, more farmer-friendly approach to BSE surveillance.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s updated national BSE surveillance program, which was put in placeearlier this year to meet new international standards, has received 152 samples of risk material of Aug. 11, it recently said.
Canada is on guard against another brush with BSE, with the 2003 case impacts still very real in theindustry’s memory.
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It has also paid $102,000 to veterinarians, cattle producers and deadstock collectors who have submitted invoices to the CFIA for services rendered. These include transporting BSE surveillance candidates tonecropsy rooms, veterinary consultations and carcass pick-up.
Classical BSE hasn’t been found in Canada since 2015, although an atypical case, considered to crop upsporadically and has not shown to transfer to humans, was found in 2021.
However, testing for the disease is just as important as ever, said Dr. Leigh Rosengren, chief veterinarian officer with the Canadian Cattle Association.
“Canada needs to continue to demonstrate to international trading partners that we are meeting thestandards for international trade, so that means demonstrating we have an effective surveillance system,”she said.
“So if producers see or are concerned about an animal that they think might fit, this is absolutely criticalthat they contact their veterinarian, which is probably the easiest avenue to enter the surveillance system.”
The bulk of participation so far has been centred in Alberta,“but cattle are present across the country andwe’re encouraging broader involvement from people who work with cattle in other provinces,” the CFIAwrote in an email.
The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) sets global surveillance standards to help countriesprevent and control animal diseases, including BSE, while supporting safe trade.
That includes the need for a suveillance system that can quickly detect any re-emergence of classical BSE.In Canada, it’s needed to maintain the country’s current “negligible BSE” risk status,which protects tradewith intrenational beef and cattle buyers.
New WOAH standards came out in May 2023 to recognize a drop in global BSE incidents. That paved theway for a more streamlined surveillance system, said Rosengren.
“The new … standards allow for a more simplified surveillance system than was allowed previously and itreally better matches the reality in the field and is a cost reduction for countries,” she said.
“The standards do not lead to a reduction in effectiveness. They are equally as effective, but they are moreflexible and more cost-effective.”
She said the new system is more flexible and based on risk.
“(That means) what we need to do is to demonstrate that we are sampling those high-risk animals thatmeet a certain criteria.”
That criteria includes animals older than 30 months old with a history that indicates a potential risk of BSE.
Canada has developed an online BSE surveillance candidate questionnaire to further make things easier for the sector.
Found on the CFIA website, it’s intended to help producers determine if an animal should be tested for BSE,starting with questions about common symptoms such as excessive salivation or teeth grinding, difficultyavoiding obstacles or abnormal pacing in circles. It’s estimated to take less than four minutes.
If the animal is eligible for testing, the form then collects more details such as its age, sex, production type,identifiers, breed and exact location, as well as the name and email address of the person completing thequestionnaire.
A unique identifier is generated for all completed questionnaires to track the sample and enable invoicing to the CFIA.
If there’s one BSE prevention standard Rosengren would like to emphasize to cattle producers, it’s adherence to Canada’s ruminant-to-ruminant food ban. That means not feeding ruminant-based materialto other ruminants, defined in this case as cattle, sheep, goats, bison, elk and deer.
“That’s the most important thing producers can do,” she says.
“Most of the burden of ongoing prevention does fall on our rendering industry and our abattoir industrybecause they are the ones that manage that specified risk matter (that can cause BSE).”
BSE testing in Canada has always been voluntary, even in the dark years immediately following detection ofthe disease in 2003, but it is also a reportable disease under the Health of Animals Act.
“This means that anyone responsible for or working with cattle such as owners, veterinarians orlaboratories must immediately notify the Canadian Food Inspection Agency if they suspect or become awareof the presence of BSE,” the agency says.
With the shrinking profile of the disease worldwide, however, and Canada’s long BSE-free period, somemight wonder about the necessity of checking cattle for BSE.
“I’d say to those producers, in some ways, they’re exactly right,” said Rosengren.
“Globally, the incidence of this disease has dropped, and that’s exactly why the World Organization forAnimal Health changed their surveillance standards in recognition of that reality, to find that balancebetween simplicity and cost reduction while still protecting the health of consumers and the health of ourcattle herd.”
