Overview of the Canada and Alberta BSE Surveillance Program

Introduction

In 2004, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced that Canada required increasing its testing for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in order to meet national and international animal health standards, to assure food safety and to guarantee market access for our cattle and meat products in international markets.

On September 10, 2004, CFIA and Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) jointly announced the creation of the Canada and Alberta BSE Surveillance Program (CABSESP) which focuses on animal surveillance categories with higher-risk to be more likely affected by the disease. This program rapidly became the pillar for BSE surveillance in Alberta and a role model for the rest of Canada and the world. In 2004, 11,748 cattle were tested; 30,537 in 2005, 25,825 in 2006 and 26,646 in 2007. We have surpassed Alberta’s target each year. Alberta holds approximately 50% of the cattle inventory of Canada and its sampling numbers reflect this fact.

During the Fall of 2007, the Food Safety Division (FSD) of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (AARD) decided to initiate a review of the CABSESP. Three main objectives were identified: 1) to detect gaps and inefficiencies within the administration and in the delivery of the program; 2) to improve the quality, accuracy and auditability of data, and 3) to adapt to the new guidelines established by the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) on BSE surveillance. A number of issues were detected and solutions were proposed to increase the administrative efficiency, reduce internal costs and spedite the data flow process. As a result, a series of internal changes were performed and a new Program Conditions document was produced defining new eligibility criteria for the CABSESP. A Veterinary Certification Program was also created to improve the quality and accuracy of data, as well as to assure that the Program Conditions were properly delivered.

On July 1, 2008 the new Program Conditions came into effect clearly defining the eligibility of producers, cattle and samples. Sampling on provincial abattoirs was eliminated. The biggest change after July 1, 2008 is represented by targeting high risk individuals, those animals whose age ranges from 30 to 107 months, which, according to science-based risk assessments, are the most likely to develop BSE. After July 1, 2008, age verification became a challenge for Certified Veterinarians, since age verification by dentition was a requirement for animals from 30 to 59 months of age and proper documentation/records to verify age was a requirement for eligibility on animals 60 to 107 months. It was estimated that these changes would result in a reduction in sampling numbers of about 50%, without affecting the number of OIE points produced by Alberta, and creating significant savings for taxpayers. However, analysis conducted by the CABSESP revealed that sampling numbers were reduced more than expected. As a result, a series of surveys were conducted by the CABSESP to determine the contributing factors of this reduction. One of the major issues was the lack of proper farm records to age verify animals from 60 to 107 months, but other factors, such as reduced cattle inventories, increased cull cow market prices and animals remaining longer in pasture, were also contributing factors.

AARD and CFIA agreed to provide Certified Veterinarians with another tool to help them age verify those animals from 30 to 107 months in the absence of records, allowing a number of those, otherwise eligible cattle, to come into the program. As a result, the CABSESP developed a dentition guideline to be used in those cases where there are no accurate farm records, ear tags, or tattoos to confirm age. To review this guideline, please visit: http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/general/progserv.nsf/all/pgmsrv187/$file/age-determination-guide.pdf

On January 26, 2009 the CABSESP- Program Conditions was changed to include the provision allowing Certified Veterinarians to determine age on eligible animals using dentition in those cases where there are no farm records available.

The New OIE Point System

The changes to the CABSESP respond to the need for Canada to meet the new OIE requirements in BSE surveillance and to improve and increase its efficiency.. The OIE implemented a point system to assess the quality of BSE surveillance conducted by member countries. In this manner, and rather than meeting a minimum yearly sampling number, each country needs to meet certain number of points over a period of time. Each collected sample is assigned a point value based on the subpopulation (category) where the sampled animal came from, its age and the animal's history and clinical data. For example, a 4-7-year old animal exhibiting neurological signs consistent with BSE, would be assigned the highest value (up to 750 points); while healthy yearlings sampled at routine slaughter are much less valuable from a BSE surveillance perspective with a value of no more that 0.01 points. Since samples from a clinical suspect animal are worth more than samples from healthy animals or those dead of unknown causes, the quality and detail of the clinical history/signs and the determination of the real age is extremely important.

Clinical Information

To accomplish the new OIE requirements in terms of more and better clinical data, two steps has been performed: 1) creation of new BSE Applications Forms that reflect the changes to the program and, 2) creation of the Veterinary Certification Program. The new forms request detailed animal information, means by which age verification is assessed and more intensive and detailed clinical and postmortem data. The use of digital pictures is strongly recommended for veterinarians to back up their assessments. In face of these requirements, only veterinarians are allowed to participate in the program.

Veterinarians in the Program

The CABSESP is executed through a network of licensed Certified Veterinarians who examine the animals to determine its eligibility, collect the brainstem sample and report clinical and/or postmortem findings. The program offers reimbursements to producers and veterinarians to offset the costs of 1) holding and securing the carcasses pending test results, and 2) for delivery of professional services respectively. Samples are to be submitted, either to the CFIA-Lethbridge laboratory, if the farm is located south of Innisfield, or to the AARD-Edmonton laboratory, if the farm is located north of Innisfield.

These practitioners visit the farm at the producer’s request, perform a clinical examination on live animals, a postmortem on dead cases, and determine the eligibility of the animal for the program. If eligible, the brainstem is collected and delivered, together with the appropriate information, to the laboratory. Collection and delivery of the sample has to be done as soon as possible, avoiding accumulation of samples for more than 3 days in the spring/summer/fall seasons, or more than a week during winter time. The veterinarian is also in charge of communicating the laboratory results to the producer within 24 hours or receiving the test results, to allow for proper disposal of the carcass.

• Veterinarians currently participating in the program: 294
• Veterinary clinics participating in the program: 130

The Veterinary Certification Program was created by the administration of the CABSESP to improve the knowledge and understanding of veterinarians in the program and to implement a consistent approach for eligibility among veterinarians in the province. The veterinary community responded to this proposal by registering almost 300 large and mixed animal practitioners licensed in Alberta. Twelve certification sessions were delivered by the Office of the Chief Provincial Veterinarian during the summer of 2008, in different cities located strategically along the geography of Alberta. The certification sessions involve general information on BSE, detailed explanation on the OIE point system, a deep description of the new Program Conditions and discussion on different case scenarios inn order to have an uniform interpretation by the veterinary community. Also, this program provides a series of updates to inform on Certified Veterinarians of oncoming changes to the Program Conditions. To maintain their certification, veterinarians must attend these updates. The latest update was on January 2009.

The Investigations Branch of the Regulatory Services Division of AARD conducts regular audits and verification on producers and veterinarians to confirm or find more information on certain cases.

A Manual for Interpretation and Guidelines for Certified Veterinarians has been produced and is a reference document for certified veterinarians. Certified Veterinarians may require to re-certify on a yearly basis. Licensed veterinarians wishing to be certified may contact the CABSESP at 780-644-2148 to inquire for the date of the next certification session.

Recommendations for Producers

Producers are asked to give Certified Veterinarians access to farm records if they need to verify the age, history and other relevant information. Also, personal and/or business information must be fully filled in the BSE application form in order to process payments. If a producer is not frequently present in the farm, he/she must give written authorization to one, or more people who are frequently present in the farm, in order to sign on his/her behalf. For copies of the Letter of Authorization, please visit: http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/general/progserv.nsf/all/pgmsrv187

If in partnership, partners must provide the name of the person who is to receive the cheques. Before signing either application form (Non submission form, General Information Form), the producer should read the Program Conditions to make sure that he/she understands the eligibility criteria, rights and responsibilities.

One of the causes for delaying payment to producers is the incomplete producer information on the BSE application form. This causes pre-verification personnel at the TSE Unit to initiate a chase for missing data, sometimes with negative results. BSE applications, where missing information is not collected within a 90-day period after being received at AARD, may be cancelled. It is recommended that producers provide complete information at the time of sampling to reduce delays and cancellations of BSE applications.

Producers who think they have an eligible animal are advised to call their local veterinary clinic and ask for a CABSESP Certified Veterinarian. Also, producers who would like to get copies of the National BSE Surveillance program, or the CABSESP Program Conditions, or to search the world wide web to locate the closest Certified Veterinarian can do so at:

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/general/progserv.nsf/all/pgmsrv187/$file/vet-certification-list.pdf?OpenElement.

Program Insights

• The implementation of the new changes to the CABSESP was accomplished in about 28 weeks by a team of IT specialists, system architects/developers, communication specialists, lawyers, finance and project specialists and veterinarians working on top of their capacities.
• This Team. leaded by Dr. Hernan Ortegon, received the Alberta Agriculture Performance of Excellence (AAPEX) Silver Award, which is one of the highest recognition given by AARD for outstanding team work.
• The dynamics of the program allow participating veterinarians to provide input regarding specific conditions, to confirm or eliminate them as eligible and to tune in details of the program.
• The number of compliance issues on the veterinarian side, fell dramatically after the July 1st 2008's changes, demonstrating that these issues were clearly identified and that proper solutions were implemented.
• The application forms corresponding to samples tested in the ADRI lab in Lethbridge, are now being entered daily into the system by the TSE Unit in Edmonton.
• The invoicing process from clinics stopped as of July 1, 2008. Payments are now produced directly from the applications.
• The TSE Unit is in charge of receiving application forms, entering data into the system, pre-verifying information, auditing, controlling and making sure that the forms are complete to trigger a payment.
• Mapping of sample distribution is ongoing and allows program administration to follow trends in animal type, target animal category, exact location of farms and other areas of interest.

• A total of 116,375 kits have been issued to veterinary clinics since the beginning of the program in September 2004
• A total of 15,766 kits were delivered to veterinary clinics from January 1st to July 15th, 2008.
• An usual number of kits were voided within the same period mainly due to altered identification tags, lost or damaged kits, incomplete documentation and unfit samples.