As part of the SFCP, producers are required to test a brain and retropharyngeal lymph node sample from all sheep or goats over 12 months of age that die or are humanely destroyed on the enrolled premises. Samples must be submitted for scrapie testing by a CFIA-approved lab.
The head (containing the brain and medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes) of the animal may be submitted directly to an approved laboratory by the producer, or the accredited veterinarian may collect brain and lymph node samples for submission to either an approved laboratory or to a CFIA district office to be sent to a CFIA laboratory (as part of the national scrapie surveillance program). The brain and lymph node samples may be collected by a trained third party under the supervision of the accredited veterinarian however, the responsibility of the sample collection and submission remains with the accredited veterinarian. In all cases, the head (or the samples) should be chilled or frozen immediately.
The owner must contact the laboratory or the accredited veterinarian must contact the CFIA district office in advance before submitting a head. The head must bear animal identification.
For accredited veterinarians interested in learning the technique for obex removal, click the following link for instructions: Appendix A (obex)
For accredited veterinarians interested in learning the techniques for lymph node sampling procedures, click the following links for instructions: Appendix B (lymph node) and Sampling
Agri-Food Laboratories Branch
TSE Laboratory
6909 – 116th Street
Edmonton, AB Canada, T6H 4P2
Phone: 780-422-4830
Facsimile: 780-415-4527
Laboratory Services, a division of the University of Guelph
Building 49, OVC, Box 3612,
Guelph, ON, Canada, N1H 6R8
Phone: 519-824-4120 X: 54544
Fax: 519-821-8072
www.ahl.uoguelph.ca
*This lab is CFIA approved
52 Campus Drive
Saskatoon, SK, CANADA, S7N 5B4
PHONE: 306-966-7316
www.pdsinc.ca
3220, rue Sicotte
Saint-Hyacinthe QC J2S 7X9
Phone: 450-778-6542
Fax: 450-778-6711
***Free for Quebec producers only
Producers may submit samples to the CFIA for testing, with costs covered by the national scrapie surveillance program.
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.
