Simplified BSE testing shows good uptake

MANITOBA CO-OPERATOR — 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 (CFIA) updated national bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) surveillance program — put in place earlier this year to meet new international standards — has received 152 samples of risk material as of Aug. 11, it recently said.

It has also paid out $102,000 to date to veterinarians, cattle producers and deadstock collectors who have submitted invoices to the CFIA for services rendered. These include transporting BSE surveillance candidates to necropsy rooms, veterinary consultations and carcass pick-up.

Although classical BSE hasn’t been found in Canada since 2015 (an atypical case, considered to crop up sporadically and of which has not shown transfer to humans, was found in 2021), testing for the disease is just as important as ever, said Dr. Leigh Rosengren, chief veterinarian officer with the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA).

“Canada needs to continue to demonstrate to international trading partners that we are meeting the standards 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 critical that 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 and we’re encouraging broader involvement from people who work with cattle in other provinces,” the CFIA wrote in an email.

System required for Canada’s BSE status

The need for national BSE surveillance is set by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), which sets global standards to help countries prevent 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 that protects trade with intrenational beef and cattle buyers.

New WOAH standards came out in May 2023 in recognition of a drop in global BSE incidents. That paved the way for a more streamlined surveillance system, said Rosengren.

“The new … standards allow for a more simplified surveillance system than was allowed previously and it really 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 more flexible and more cost-effective.”

She noted that 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 that meet a certain criteria.”

That criteria includes animals over 30 months old with a history that indicates a potential risk of BSE.

Online tool kicks off process

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 like excessive salivation or teeth grinding, difficulty avoiding 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 the questionnaire.

A unique identifier is generated for all completed questionnaires to track the sample and enable invoicing to the CFIA.

Remember ruminant feed ban

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 any ruminant-based material to 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 industry, because they are the ones that manage that specified risk matter (that can cause BSE).”

Low incidence drives appropriate testing

Although BSE testing in Canada has always been voluntary — even in the dark years around 2003 — BSE 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 or laboratories must immediately notify the Canadian Food Inspection Agency if they suspect or become aware of the presence of BSE,” the agency says.

With the shrinking profile of the disease worldwide, however, and Canada’s long BSE-free gap, some might 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 for Animal Health changed their surveillance standards in recognition of that reality, to find that balance between simplicity and cost reduction while still protecting the health of consumers and the health of our cattle herd.”

About the author

Jeff Melchior

Jeff Melchior is a reporter for Glacier FarmMedia publications. He grew up on a mixed farm in northern Alberta until the age of twelve and spent his teenage years and beyond in rural southern Alberta around the city of Lethbridge. Jeff has decades’ worth of experience writing for the broad agricultural industry in addition to community-based publications. He has a Communication Arts diploma from Lethbridge College (now Lethbridge Polytechnic) and is a two-time winner of Canadian Farm Writers Federation awards.