MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Canada could test up to six times more cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy after a single animal was found with the disease in May, a federal official told cattle producers here last week.
But the Canadian Food Inspection Agency will not test all cattle that go for slaughter.
CFIA veterinarian George Luterbach said the agency tested about 10,000 head this year. That could increase to between 20,000 and 60,000.
The testing will focus on animals that have any disease, or are found down, dying or dead on farms.
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Luterbach said this targeted approach would provide the best surveillance program.
“Testing normal healthy animals is not the most efficient way to find BSE,” he told reporters at the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association semi-annual meeting.
Japan has asked Canada to test all its animals, something that country has done since BSE was discovered there in 2001.
Luterbach said the details of a more intensive surveillance program, including how the samples would be gathered and tested and the results received quickly, still have to be worked out.
As part of a review of its animal health policies, the agency is also looking at the rules governing animal feed.
In 1997, Canada banned the use of ruminant protein in feed for other ruminants. Scientists believe BSE is spread when protein from infected animals is fed to others.
However, ruminant protein can still be added to feed for other animals, such as pigs and chickens.
Luterbach said those rules may have to be tightened further.
CCA executive vice-president Dennis Laycraft said Canada shouldn’t get too far ahead of its neighbour as it develops new policies.
The United States is also working on its BSE surveillance programs. Laycraft said the two countries should have similar policies because they have similar risk factors.
Although Luterbach couldn’t say how soon policy changes would be made, Laycraft said it should happen within the next two months.
