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NATIONAL CENTRE FOR FOREIGN ANIMAL DISEASE (NCFAD)

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• The National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease (NCFAD), located in the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health, is part of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). CFIA is responsible for enforcing the food safety and nutritional quality standards established by Health Canada. CFIA also sets standards and carries out enforcement and inspection, for animal health and plant protection.

• The NCFAD provides state-of-the-art scientific expertise and technologies for the prevention, detection, control and reporting of Foreign Animal Disease (FAD). FADs are a threat to Canada when they affect human or livestock health, and when there is an appreciable cost associated with disease control or eradication.

• The Centre has diagnostic capabilities for a large number of FADs including African Swine Fever, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, Foot and Mouth Disease, Hog Cholera and Avian Influenza.

• The NCFAD has over 55 staff members. Scientific staff are split into the following units:

  • Classical Swine Fever and Avian Disease
  • Vesicular Disease
  • Zoonotics
  • Reagent Development
  • Bacteriology
  • Diagnostic Pathology
  • Animal Care
  • Centre for Policy and Epidemiology.

• NCFAD personnel serve on international committees, and maintain links and collaborations with FAD experts worldwide. At times, they also assist other countries with foreign animal disease outbreaks and will provide advice on the development of foreign animal disease policy.

• The NCFAD is certified ISO 17025. ISO certification means that an international level of standardization has been met; this ensures state-of-the-art technology and worldwide compatibility.

• One of the NCFAD’s main responsibilities is to provide training in FADs. They offer a specialized annual course that focuses on FAD recognition, diagnosis and pathogenesis (the origins and development of a disease). It is the only facility in Canada that is equipped to present this course. Participants include CFIA field veterinarians, veterinary pathologists from Canada’s teaching colleges, and veterinary diagnosticians from provincial laboratories.

• NCFAD operates a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory, which provides the capability to work safely with the most serious diseases. A Level 4 laboratory is designed for dangerous agents that usually produce very serious and often untreatable diseases, which can be spread easily through airborne or casual contact. All animal diseases classed as Level 4 are zoonotic, meaning that they can transfer to humans. Staff wear pressurized biosafety suits which are chemically treated after each session and which remain in the lab area. All air and waste are sterilized on exit.