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CFIA'S Role in West Nile Virus Activities

June, 2005

Canadian Activities

A Health Canada-led National Steering Committee was established to develop and refine recommendations on animal, mosquito and human surveillance, laboratory diagnosis, biosafety, education, response and prevention. The participants represent a multi-disciplinary group of experts from the federal government, provincial ministries of health, provincial veterinary services and the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Center (CCWHC). The CFIA is an active participant of the WNV National Steering Committee. This group has developed the National Guidelines for Response to West Nile Virus. These guidelines recognize that the WNV is an indigenous disease in Canada and that passive surveillance of horses and other mammals has limited sentinel value in routine surveillance for WNV virus. Consequently, the CFIA has discontinued testing horses as part of its contribution to the overall WNV early detection activities and the responsibility for WNV diagnosis currently resides in provincial or other laboratories.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency's Responsibilities

Background

In 2002 the West Nile Virus (WNV) was, for the first time, diagnosed in horses in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan and in a flock of commercial geese in Manitoba. In 2003, WNV was also found in horses in Nova Scotia and Alberta. Since 2002, the WNV became considered an indigenous disease in Canada and consequently CFIA’s policy regarding testing of clinically ill horses for West Nile Virus has been changed. The purpose of this document is to describe CFIA’s specific role.

West Nile Virus becomes an immediately notifiable disease

In May, 2003 WNV became an immediately notifiable disease under the Health of Animals Act and Reportable Disease Regulations. In these regulations, all veterinary laboratories in Canada are required to report to CFIA upon suspicion or diagnosis of WNV in all domestic animals species including horses. The laboratories are expected to report all suspicious or confirmed cases of WNV in domestic species to the CFIA by forwarding pertaining information directly to the Animal Disease Surveillance Unit. E-mail: notification@inspection.gc.ca or by facsimile at 613-228-6675.

For more information, on the immediately notifiable diseases, please consult the Canadian Food Inspection Agency web site

• Regulations Amending The Health of Animals Regulations

Note:

under the Health of Animals Act, the CFIA does not have any obligation or commitment to take action when told of diseases listed as notifiable. The CFIA will gather that information primarily to meet Canada’s international obligations for surveillance of diseases in livestock and for public health purposes.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency and West Nile Virus surveillance

The Disease Surveillance Unit of the CFIA gathers and compiles all the information on WNV cases reported by laboratories. Through reports from an Immediately Notifiable database that is expected to be operational in 2004, CFIA’s information will then be transferred via the Internet to the Health Canada data management system to permit the tracking, recording and mapping of WNV cases. WNV testing results will be interpreted with the information available and the records reported in three main categories: positive, possible and reactor. The criteria used for this categorization can be found in a separate document titled "Interpretation of WNV laboratory results reported to the CFIA". For a summary of national surveillance numbers, please see the West Nile virus Monitor Surveillance Data and Maps on the Health Canada WNV virus Surveillance Info web site at:

Surveillance, Education, Prevention and Response

West Nile Virus - Surveillance Information

Canadian Food Inspection Agency and West Nile Virus export certification

The Disease Surveillance Unit informs CFIA’s field staff of all WNV cases reported in domestic animals on a regular basis; this ensures our staff has current and easily accessible information on the WNV activities in their areas and they could use that information for live animals or meat products export certification if required.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency and West Nile Virus vaccine

The Veterinary Biologic Section (VBS) of the Animal Health and Production Division, Canadian Food Inspection Agency is responsible for licensing veterinary biologics in Canada.

Currently, there are two WNV vaccines licenced for use in Canada. The Fort Dodge, West Nile Virus vaccine, Killed Virus (West Nile - Innovator), was registered for use in horses in 2003, and the West Nile Virus vaccine, Modified Live Virus, Canarypox Vector (Recombitek Equine West Nile Virus) manufactured by Merial Ltd. was approved in April of this year.

Both vaccines are easily available to horse owners through their veterinary practitioners. For more information on the WNV vaccines for horses, you may wish to review the following Fort Dodge web site and the Merial web site.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency and West Nile Virus vs. reportable diseases

The clinical manifestation of WNV virus infection may resemble some CFIA’s other reportable diseases. In horses (rabies) and poultry (Newcastle Disease and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza) these must be ruled out in situations where these species show neurological signs of disease. CFIA must be contacted to ensure that no other disease that could be foreign to Canada is occurring.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency approach to West Nile Virus in slaughter animals

In certain cases, after reportable diseases have been ruled out, if clinical signs of WNV are found in domestic species that are raised for food production, the CFIA will still play a role in ensuring that the animals are allowed to be slaughtered only after they have recovered completely and a period of time has passed after the clinical signs have ended.

CFIA has prepared three documents on how it will respond to situations where neurological clinical signs are reported in horses and domestic poultry. The main objective of these documents is to provide guidelines on how CFIA will manage situations where the primary task for the agency would be confirmation or exclusion of the reportable diseases which clinically could resemble WNV (e.g. rabies in horses or Newcastle in avian species).

The following documents also address the issue of the health and safety of the inspection staff and plant employees in registered establishments:

• Canadian Food Inspection Agency Response to Central Nervous System Signs in Domestic Birds of the Order of Anseriformes (Domestic Geese and Ducks) in West Nile Virus Endemic Areas - Field investigation.
• Canadian Food Inspection Agency Response to central nervous system Signs in Horses in West Nile Virus Endemic Areas - Field and Registered Establishment Investigation
• CFIA Response to West Nile Virus in Slaughtered Birds of the Order of Galliformes (Commercial Chickens, Turkeys, Guinea fowl, Pheasants, Quails), Rheas, Emus and Ostriches.