Scrapie has been present in Canada for almost 70 years. With the majority of countries around the world currently working to actively eradicate all transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, the continued presence of scrapie in Canada is preventing access to international markets including the United States. With your help, Canada can take action to eradicate scrapie.
Any farm in Canada may contribute to scrapie surveillance. If you are on the Scrapie Flock Certification Program (SFCP) and wish to also access the CFIA’s National Scrapie Surveillance Program, you must inform your accredited veterinarian that an animal has died. Your accredited veterinarian (AV) is responsible for ensuring sample collection and submission. The AV will then make arrangements with the local CFIA district office to ensure that the required obex and retropharyngeal lymph nodes are sent to a CFIA lab for testing. Proper identification (ID) of the sheep or goat is required, matching the ID used for SFCP inventory reporting.
If you are a sheep or goat owner on any farm in Canada that is not on the SFCP and an animal on your farm dies, please contact your local CFIA district office to make arrangements to have your animal sampled by CFIA staff.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and several provincial agricultural ministries have launched a surveillance program to detect scrapie in the national sheep flock and goat herd. The goal is to identify every infected animal so that proper steps can be taken to completely eradicate the disease from our country.
The surveillance program needs your on-farm mature deadstock. Eradication will only be accomplished if every source of the disease is found. Representation of the entire national sheep flock and goat herd needs to be tested. Do your part: submit your dead animals and encourage your neighbour to submit theirs.
Report all sheep and goat aged 12 months and older that die on your farm. As well, report mature animals exhibiting the following signs or symptoms:
Compensation is available for any live animals ordered destroyed by the CFIA.
Manage the risk of scrapie showing up on your farm by either closing your flock/ herd to new animals and testing all mature dead animals for scrapie or by breeding for genetic resistance to scrapie. General biosecurity practices associated with farm visitors and animal husbandry (needles, taggers etc.) are also recommended.
Click here for more information on scrapie or contact your local CFIA District Office.
