BSE Surveillance Program Criteria Changing

As of July 1, 2006, the criteria Alberta veterinarians will be looking for, when examining cattle considered for BSE testing, will change. The most significant change is that emaciated animals, those with a body condition score of '1' or less, will no longer be eligible for sampling unless they show clinical signs of an abnormality that could mimic or mask BSE.

"The World Animal Health Organization (OIE) has implemented a points system that reflects the level of risk for BSE a particular animal poses. It is a way to measure the quality of a country's BSE surveillance program," says Dr. Gerald Ollis, Chief Provincial Veterinarian. "The new OIE system changes the focus from number of cattle tested for BSE to the degree of risk the tested animals pose for BSE." This risk is also related directly to the animal's age because the peak occurrence of BSE is in cattle four to seven years of age. For example, young healthy slaughter cattle are virtually worthless (0.01 points) from a BSE surveillance perspective, but a BSE test from an animal between four and seven years of age suspected of having BSE is awarded the maximum value (750 points).

Canada has more than one million head of adult cattle and must accumulate at least 300,000 BSE surveillance points over a seven-year period in order to apply for a 'controlled' or 'negligible' BSE risk category.

"The only practical way to achieve this target is to test high-risk animals and collect as much accurate information as possible on the age and clinical history of the animal being sampled."

Ollis continues, "Testing millions of healthy animals is viewed by the international community as much less effective than testing a few thousand high-risk animals. So we're tightening up our criteria so that we can ensure our efforts are getting the highest value and recognition for the available resources. Our BSE surveillance program is not a cull program and," he stressed, "we must not test animals that aren't high risk for BSE."

The new criteria includes beef and dairy cows and bulls that are more than 30 months of age as determined by dentition or birth records, located in Alberta at the time of sampling. The categories of eligible cattle have been reduced from six to five, and are summarized as follows:

1. Neurological - cattle of any body condition score exhibiting abnormalities in locomotion, sensation OR mental activity that a veterinarian could directly attribute to a central nervous system abnormality, or
2. Diseased - cattle with a body condition score of 2 or less that exhibit and/or have a history of a chronic and progressive disturbance in locomotion, sensation or mental activity that is not likely to respond to treatment, and has not been directly attributed to central nervous system abnormality by a veterinarian, or
3. Distressed - acutely ill or injured cattle requiring emergency slaughter. The animal must be examined by a veterinarian, CFIA technician or licensed meat inspector before slaughter, or
4. Down - unable to get up and/or walk without assistance, or
5. Dead - found dead from undetermined causes

• producers receive $225 per testable sample
• veterinarians are reimbursed for their costs
• provincially inspected abattoirs receive $75 per tested animal to offset the costs of storing carcasses and offal pending test results

Other Articles From the July 3, 2006 Issue of Agri-News