REGINA (Staff) – Canadian domestic bison are disease-free, so stringent testing regulations may soon be relaxed, says a federal agriculture official.
“We have no domestic bison herds in Canada that have a problem,” said George Luterbach, who oversees animal health in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario for Agriculture Canada. “The next steps would be to deregulate movement.”
Now, bison producers need transportation permits to move the animals. To get a permit, government officials have to agree the herd is healthy. This is based on tests to the entire herd, which are done every three years.
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Less testing required
Relaxing the regulations may require testing only some animals from each herd.
Luterbach said bison herds have been tested for brucellosis and tuberculosis since 1988 because cattle producers were worried their herds would be infected by the bison population.
But only a few incidents of disease have shown up in bison, and in those cases the entire herd was destroyed. Luterbach said the domestic bison herd now appears to be disease-free.
Worries about bison and disease often were tied to the herd in Alberta’s Wood Buffalo National Park, Luterbach said. That herd, which is on the northern border of Alberta, is infected with brucellosis and tuberculosis. Southern producers are not in danger because of the remoteness of the herd, Luterbach said.
Agriculture Canada and the bison industry are discussing changes to the testing and movement regulations.
“The fruits of their labor are paying off because they now have the evidence to go back and scientifically support the industry and petition for a little less regulation,” Luterbach said.
