May 26, 2008

Canada to focus mad cow surveillance on high-risk cattle

Canada's mad cow surveillance programme will shift its focus on testing younger high-risk cattle for mad cow disease.

The new pilot programme developed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) will be able to focus producers' efforts on the animals the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) identifies as being most at risk.

Gerald Ollis, chief provincial veterinarian, said the project is a move toward more targeted, precise sampling which could further strengthen Alberta's cattle industry.

The pilot programme is keeping with OIE surveillance standards, which use a point system to assess the value of member country's mad cow surveillance.

As most cases of mad cow show up in cattle between four and seven years of age, the OIE point system assigns a higher value for high-risk cattle in that age range.

Although the new age cut-offs will reduce the number of animals eligible for testing, by selecting cattle that yield the highest surveillance point values, international confidence in negative test results will be maintained, the authorities explained.