Producers Need to Take Note of BSE Surveillance Programme
CANADA- BSE surveillance is necessary to show whether schemes to control BSE in Alberta and Canada are working. This is essential for Canada to maintain its controlled risk status with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
7 November 2012
1 minute read
Producers benefit from effective BSE (Bovine Spogiform Encephalopathy) surveillance and are crucial to the success of the program. Governments can oversee BSE surveillance but they cannot conduct a successful BSE surveillance program without your help, informs Alberta Beef Producers.
To ensure success, producers are being urged to call vets whenever producers may have an animal fitting the eligibility criteria. If the veterinarian finds that the animal is eligible, then a sample is collected and producers are reimbursed $75 for time and costs associated with allowing sampling and securing the carcass pending test results.
Samples coming from animals 30 months and older, without any upper age limit that are having neurological signs, such as changes in behavior, locomotion or sensation, or are diseased, down, distressed, or dead due to unknown causes, are now being accepted. In addition, the 30-day ownership requirement has also been removed.
The cost of the Vet's cvisit is covered by the BSE surveillance programme. Farmers are urged to contact their vet if they think they have an animal eligible for BSE testing.
