Foreign Animal Diseases

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1. Introduction

• 1.1 Dangers of Foreign Animal Diseases
• 1.2 Emergency Planning in British Columbia
• 1.3 What This Guide Is and Is Not
• 1.4 Terminology and Acronyms

2. Foreign Animal Diseases

• 2.1 Properties of Foreign Animal Diseases
• 2.2 Diseases and Their Causes and Consequences
  • 2.2.1 Possible Causes
  • 2.2.2 Consequences of Disease in Livestock
• 2.3 Potential for Occurrence in British Columbia
  • 2.3.1 Recorded Incidents in British Columbia
  • 2.3.2 Density of Livestock and Potential for Occurrence
• 2.4 Prevention of Foreign Animal Disease
• 2.5 Preparedness for Emergency
• 2.6 Recovery

3. Appendix A -Contacts
4. Appendix B -Reportable Diseases

• 4.1 Provincial - Animal Disease Control Act
• 4.2 Federal - Health of Animals Act

For further information or feedback, you can e-mail the B.C. Regional Office of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at FPIBCRO@em.agr.ca

1. Introduction

In the mid 1980s, an epidemic of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy - popularly known as"Mad Cow disease," struck British cattle. One case of BSE has been diagnosed in Canada, in December 1993. This case was in a cow that was imported from the U.K. with the disease. Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada treated this case as a foreign animal disease and took extra-ordinary measures to protect Canada s livestock industry and consumers. These included the destruction of all at-risk cattle that were imported from the U.K. Canada is fortunate to be free of many animal diseases that are present in much of the world. Canada s ability to export many products is dependent on this enviable disease status. The best known outbreak of a foreign animal disease that has occurred in Canada was Foot and Mouth disease which was diagnosed in Saskatchewan in 1952. It is estimated that the total cost, including lost export markets, to the country was about one billion dollars, in 1952 dollars.

It is for this reason and many others that this resource guide has been developed.

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1.1 Dangers of Foreign Animal Disease

A few examples of foreign animal diseases that are of great concern to Canadians include:
-Foot and Mouth Disease which affects all cloven hoofed animals and is wide spread throughout the world;
-Newcastle Disease causes almost 100% mortality in poultry flocks and could spread rapidly through a concentrated poultry farming area such as the Fraser Valley;
-Pseudorabies or Aujeszky's Disease is a herpes virus of pigs that is present in many countries including the United States. This disease is very difficult to get rid of;
-Hog Cholera and African Swine Fever are two similar diseases which infect pigs.

As has been demonstrated recently, in the case of BSE, an outbreak of disease can have a devastating effect on a country s ability to export. Canada s ability to market many animal products and by-products, as well as feed grains is dependent upon freedom from the serious epizootic diseases that are currently absent from the country.

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1.2 Emergency Planning in British Columbia

Pursuant to the Health of Animals Act, the eradication of any foreign animal disease outbreak is the responsibility of the Federal Minister of Agriculture. The Minister has established the Foreign Animal Disease Eradication organization within the Food Production and Inspection Branch of Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada. The FADE organization is integrated into existing Federal/Provincial emergency preparedness arrangements, which include Emergency Preparedness Canada, Provincial Emergency Programs, as well as many other federal departments and provincial ministries, in particular the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

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1.3 What This Guide Is and Is Not

This guide is a compendium of information about foreign animal diseases and their treatment as a hazard within a structured emergency management program. It will discuss various diseases of livestock, their causes and consequences, and which people and branches of government are responsible for prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery activities.

This Guide is not a response plan: it is meant to facilitate the construction of such a plan. This Guide does not deal with animal diseases of non-livestock (such as pets), since such diseases are considered to be of minimal risk and communicability compared to those among livestock.

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1.4 Terminology and Acronyms

BSE - Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a disease which affects the brains of cattle. An outbreak of BSE in Britain began in the late 1980s.

EPC - Emergency Preparedness Canada

FMD - Food and Mouth Disease - last reported in Canada in 1952.

Foreign Animal Disease - A disease which affects animals and is not indigenous to Canada. These may be diseases of livestock, poultry, and wild species. Many diseases have been eradicated within Canada, or have never been present, but outside sources can enter the country. These diseases are also referred to as "exotic animal diseases."

IEPC - Inter-agency Emergency Preparedness Committee, a British Columbia government committee mandated to prepare and oversee a provincial Strategy for Response.

OIE - Office International des Epizooties (International Office for Epizootics). This is a world organization for animal health with 143 member countries.

PEP - Provincial Emergency Program of British Columbia.

Reportable Diseases - Serious diseases that must be reported to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and/or the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

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2. Foreign Animal Diseases

Foreign animal diseases can do much more than temporarily affect livestock production.
Outbreaks of disease can shut down a country s access to export markets, and thus cripple an agriculture industry.

2.1 Properties of Foreign Animal Diseases

The diseases that this Guide is concerned with are those which are contagious and harmful to animals. They are diseases which are not indigenous to Canada. They are also diseases whose presence is monitored throughout the world by OIE (Office International Epizootic). Trading practices of animal products and other commodities which could be contaminated with these diseases, are often limited when infection occurs in a given country. Unfortunately for planners, there exists many diseases which fall under this broad heading. As a result, it is not possible to identify generic properties of animal diseases in any way that would be useful to the layman. However, it is a legal requirement for owners of animals and their veterinarians to identify and report suspected foreign animal diseases to the appropriate government authorities.

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2.2. Diseases and Their Causes and Consequences

2.2.1. Possible Causes

There are several possible causes of foreign animal disease in British Columbian animals. The causative agent (most often a virus) must gain access to the country, by somehow bypassing the high import standard set by Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada. Therefore, a contaminated animal product or by-product, or other contaminated item such as animal feed or a dirty pair of boots must then have access to an animal and infect it. The other means of arriving in Canada is by importation of an infected animal. This is less likely to happen, as animals are not usually permitted entry from countries with foreign animal diseases, and it is more difficult to smuggle an animal than a product. Once infection has been introduced into an animal, spread can be very rapid from animal to animal and from farm to farm. The means and speed of transmission depends on the specific disease. However, the dreaded disease, Foot and Mouth disease can be transmitted by animals, animal products such as meat or sausage, equipment, vehicles or even on the wind, and spread very rapidly. Newcastle disease of poultry also spreads rapidly by movement of contaminated birds, implements or people from farm to farm.

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2.2.2 Consequences of Disease in Livestock

The main consequence of any communicable disease is that one animal may infect several others, which may each in turn transmit the disease to several others, and so on. It is the speed at which this cycle takes place that can be devastating to a livestock population. With 200,000 cattle spread across 6,000 farms in the Fraser Valley alone, a comparable number of swine, and about 40 million poultry, disease could easily and quickly spread.

Loss of livestock due to disease can be devastating. Immediate losses of animals can occur through the disease proper, or by slaughter (and subsequent carcass disposal) of the animals once disease is identified. In addition, the future viability of the industry could be poor because of a reduced animal population, loss of valuable genetics and by possible public alarm about the disease (inside the province/country, and outside).

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2.3 Potential for Occurrence in British Columbia

2.3.1 Recorded Incidence in British Columbia

Canada is recognized throughout the world as being free of many exotic diseases that are found in some other countries. Diseases that have never been reported in Canada include the following:

• African Horse Sickness,
• African Swine Fever,
• Rinderpest,
• Swine Vesicular Disease,
• Contagious Equine Metritis, and
• Pseudorabies.

The following diseases have been eradicated from Canada:

• Foot and Mouth disease (1952),
• Hog Cholera (Classical Swine Fever) (1963),
• Glanders (1938),
• Dourine (1921),
• Exotic Newcastle disease (1973),
• Bovine Brucellosis (1985).

While Tuberculosis occurs occasionally in cattle in other parts of Canada, British Columbia is free of the disease. A similar situation exists with Scrapie which is seen intermittently in eastern Canada. While Rabies is not uncommon in most of Canada, it occurs only in bats in this province. On the other hand, the Okanagan Valley is the only part of Canada where Bluetongue occasionally gains entry from the United States.

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2.3.2 Density of Livestock and Potential for Occurrence

While epidemics of exotic diseases have not occurred in British Columbia in recent history, the dense livestock population in farming areas such as the Fraser Valley, and the high degree of international trade in the port of Vancouver and the growing Vancouver International Airport, suggest that they are possible. As mentioned in Section 2.2.1 above, such diseases have many transmittal methods. There is, therefore, a definite potential for an outbreak of foreign animal disease in British Columbia, and the province should be prepared.

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2.4. Prevention of Foreign Animal Disease

Obviously, prevention of diseases would be preferable to any sort of reaction plan. The Health of Animals Act specifies stringent regulations for the importation of animals or products that could introduce a foreign animal disease. In many cases, these items may be prohibited entry from high-risk parts of the world. In other cases, requirements are stated in order to mitigate any risk of the importation of these products. For example, for most live animals, an import permit must be obtained in advance; testing, treatment and health certification must be carried out in the country of origin; and often a period of post-import quarantine is required. In the case of products, they may be permitted entry if it is certified that various procedures have been carried out, such as heat treatment which would kill any disease agent. In order to enforce these regulations, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada inspectors and veterinarians work with Canada Customs at the port of entry, and may have a detector dog in service to find any smuggled items. In order that a serious or exotic disease is rapidly detected and controlled, there are federal and provincial laws in place that require certain reportable diseases to be reported to the appropriate authorities.

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2.5. Preparedness for Emergency

A plan for response to a foreign animal disease must include strategic information on preparedness for, response to, and recovery from emergencies involving foreign animal diseases. Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada as the lead agency in such a situation has specific legislation in the Health of Animals Act under which the Minister of Agriculture may declare an area in which a foreign animal disease has been detected "control area." From that point in time, extraordinary measures will be taken to eradicate the disease and to control its movement. Emergency Preparedness Canada and Provincial Emergency Programs will mobilize other federal and provincial organizations to assist in the operation. For example, road blocks will be set up on highways to limit movement of possibly-contaminated animals or vehicles; stations will be set up to disinfect vehicles that are allowed to move; police will monitor movement of animals and take control measures when necessary; provincial agriculture ministry expertise will be utilized; and social service workers or other counsellors will assist farm owners with the grief associated with the likely destruction of their animals and livelihood.

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2.6 Recovery

Veterinarians from Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada will be in charge of investigating property to determine whether the disease has been totally eradicated. After destruction of susceptible species and cleaning and disinfection of the premises, it is likely that "sentinel" animals will be placed on the property to ensure that no infectious organism remains. Restocking of the land will be permitted if no evidence of disease develops in the sentinel animals.

3. Appendix A - Contacts

The procedure to follow if you suspect a Foreign Animal Disease in an animal or group of animals is to contact your veterinarian, who would then decide whether it is some disease indigenous in Canada. If, after your veterinarian investigates, there remains suspicion of an exotic disease, a District Veterinarian from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada should be called.

BRITISH COLUMBIA REGION
Animal Health Programs
Rm. 202, 620 Royal Avenue
New Westminster, B.C. V3M 1J2
Phone: (604) 666-8750
Fax: (604) 666-1963

Program Officer - Dr. Don Olson Tel: (604) 666-8900
Inspection Officer - Humane Transport - Dave Zuest Tel: (604) 666-7500
Program Clerk - Heather Sawers Tel: (604) 666-5852
Part-time Program Clerk - Cecelia Soriano Tel: (604) 666-0577

Chief Veterinarian (B.C. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food)

Dr. Ron Lewis
1767 Angus Campbell Road
ABBOTSFORD, B.C. V3G 2M3
Tel: 1-800-661-9903 Fax: 556-3010

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4. Appendix B - Reportable Diseases

4.1 Reportable Diseases - Provincial

The following is a list of "infectious or contagious diseases" as defined by the Regulations of the Animal Disease Control Act of B.C.:

• tuberculosis,
• brucellosis,
• swine plague (hog cholera),
• caseous lymphadenitis,
• equine encephalomyelitis,
• foot rot in sheep,
• distemper in fur bearers
• infectious laryngotracheitis,
• mycoplasma gallisepticum of turkeys

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4.2 Reportable Disease - Federal

This is the list of reportable diseases as per the Reportable Diseases Regulations made pursuant to the Health of Animals Act:

• african swine fever,
• anaplasmosis
• anthrax,
• avian influenza (fowl plague),
• bluetongue,
• bovine cysticercosis,
• bovine spongiform encephalopathy,
• brucellosis,
• contagious equine metritis,
• dourine,
• equine infectious anemia,
• equine piroplasmosis,
• foot and mouth disease,
• fowl typhoid,
• glanders,
• hog cholera (classical swine fever),
• mange (sarcoptic in cattle, sheep, goats, horses; psoroptic in cattle, sheep, and horses),
• Newcastle disease,
• pullorum disease,
• pseudorabies (Aujeszky s disease),
• rabies,
• rinderpest,
• scrapie,
• sheep scab,
• trichinosis,
• tuberculosis,
• swine vesicular disease,
• vesicular stomatitis,
• vesicular exanthema of swine
• varroasis

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Disclaimer -

The above is for general information only. An attempt has been made to ensure it is as correct as possible at the time of posting, however it in no way necessarily reflects the official policies and positions of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canda or the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. The persons listed above should be contacted for updated information or you can e-mail the B.C. Regional Office of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at FPIBCRO@em.agr.ca. - Rev. Mar 2, 2001