Scrapie Surveillance Program Update

The Alberta Scrapie Surveillance Program conducted by Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) has been a success thanks to the response from sheep and goat producers all over Alberta. This participation has resulted in valuable provincial Scrapie Surveillance information as well as morbidity and mortality information for the carcasses submitted. A summary of the causes of morbidity and mortality will be communicated to the industry associations and sheep and goat producers following completion of the pathology study. To date, a positive case has not been detected, supporting that Alberta is either free of the disease, or that the prevalence is very low.

ARD’s Scrapie surveillance testing contributes to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) National Active Scrapie Surveillance statistics. The results of Scrapie testing conducted at ARD’s Laboratory are accepted by the CFIA for producers enrolled in the National Voluntary Scrapie Flock Certification Program. A credible National Scrapie Surveillance Program will assist the CFIA in future negotiations with the United States Department of Agriculture to re-open the United States border to the exportation of Canadian small ruminants over one year of age.

We encourage sheep and goat producers to continue to submit the carcasses (preferably) or heads of all sheep and goats 1 year of age and older that die on the farm to one of the four ARD laboratories (Edmonton, Airdrie, Lethbridge, Fairview), as part of ARD’s Scrapie Surveillance Program. Carcasses must not be severely decomposed or scavenged. Based on last year’s numbers, we anticipate reaching our target number of animals by early February, 2009. As we draw closer to that date, please contact your local office to ensure program availability.

Table 1: Number of Sheep and Goat Submissions from Regional Labs or Meat Inspection for Scrapie Testing for the Period of September 1^st 2007 to October 31^s 2008

Regional Laboratory	Fairview	Edmonton	Airdrie	Lethbridge	Meat Inspection	Total
Sheep	12	44	89	20	6	171
Goat		6	4	7	2	19
Total	12	50	93	27	8	190

Table 2: Number of Sheep and Goat Submissions for Post Mortem Method Comparison Study for the Period of September 1^st 2007 to October 31^st 2008

Regional Laboratory	Fairview	Edmonton	Airdrie	Lethbridge	Total
Sheep	9	20	71	16	116
Goat		6	4	7	17
Total	9	26	75	23	133

Inquiries about ARD’s Scrapie Surveillance Program can be directed to Dr. Brian Miller at -780-427-8201 (brian.miller@gov.ab.ca); Dr. Hernan Ortegon at 780-644-2148 (hernan.ortegon@gov.ab.ca)