Coping with anthrax will soon be a matter only for cattle producers and their veterinarians as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency withdraws from dealing with the disease.
As of April 1, 2013, the CFIA will no longer investigate and quarantine premises infected with anthrax, collect samples and submit them for testing, provide the initial dose of vaccine for affected herds, oversee carcass disposal, cleaning and disinfection and pay compensation to help cover disposal costs.
Dr. Penny Greenwood, the CFIA’s national manager of domestic disease control, said the decision was made after a review of priorities for the agency’s limited resources.
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“We feel that our intervention in this disease is really of limited benefit,” she said.
“During a time when we have limited resources and have to prioritize, it was natural for us to move away from this type of disease to refocus on diseases that are much more challenging, such as emerging diseases and some of the foreign animal diseases we’re trying to prevent to come into the country.”
Anthrax spores are naturally present in the soil in Canada and the disease will never be eradicated, she said. Producers and veterinarians have largely been handling the response to the disease, often acting on preliminary test results to vaccinate herds.
“Anthrax is basically handled predominantly by the private sector in that there is a very effective vaccination for it,” Greenwood said.
Vaccination is usually done in early spring and often advised in areas where anthrax has been previously found.
Anthrax will remain a reportable disease for now and the CFIA will map the cases and make the information available on its website. Producers raising cattle in areas where the disease is found can make their own decisions about vaccination, including whether the benefits outweigh the cost.
The agency will license the anthrax vaccine and provide information on how to dispose of infected carcasses.
This year, two cases of anthrax were confirmed in Saskatchewan: in July on a cattle farm in the Rural Municipality of Kinistino and in August on a bison ranch in the RM of Three Lakes, north of Humboldt.
The CFIA is also reportedly reviewing how it handles at least three other diseases: anaplasmosis, chronic wasting disease and rabies.
