WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C. – The fear of an unknown foreign disease infecting Canadian livestock is real, but the greater challenge remains in controlling domestic diseases.
Wildlife is one source, and it is uncontrollable, said Ken Stepushyn of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency during the British Columbia Cattlemen’ s Association meeting in Williams Lake, May 24-26.
Bovine tuberculosis is a continuing problem in wild elk in Manitoba’ s Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba and bison carry brucellosis in Alberta’ s Wood Mountain
National Park.
Read Also
Calf hormone implants can give environmental, financial wins
Hormone implants can lead to bigger calves — reducing greenhouse gas intensity, land use intensity and giving the beef farmer more profit, Manitoba-based model suggests.
Velogenic Newcastle disease, which affects poultry, is found in waterfowl, especially cormorants.
If any of these diseases infected domestic livestock, it could mean widespread slaughter, as well as serious economic and psychological loss to producers.
Canada has maintained some of the world’ s toughest standards to keep the country free of serious disease.
However, international trade agreements in place since 1995 limit how much Canada can restrict movement to protect domestic agriculture against foreign animal diseases.
Sanitary and phytosanitary agreements prevent countries from using disease in animals or plants as a trade barrier.
The agreements are based on risk-based scientific knowledge. As a result, there is greater movement of animal products around the world that carry a degree of risk.
Canada uses permits to monitor imports. They are based on the absence of serious diseases in specific regions.
In the case of infections like foot-and-mouth disease, there is a zero tolerance policy and no imports from an infected area are considered safe.
Canada has a series of steps in place before imports are allowed. Disease prevention is based on risk analysis and includes herd tests, quarantines in the country of origin, and quarantine and further tests upon arrival.
Global agreements also monitor disease through the International des Epizooties, which includes157 member countries. Its primary function is to provide early warning systems for disease outbreaks.
