April 19, 2023

Canadian livestock groups welcome establishment of FMD vaccine bank

Livestock groups in Canada are hailing the country's pledge to set up a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine bank.

"The Canadian beef industry breathed a collective sigh of relief to learn a foot-and-mouth disease vaccine bank is on the horizon," Alberta Beef Producers said in a report on its website.

Livestock organisations have been asking for a vaccine bank for years and in a letter last fall, the chairs of Alberta's cattle, cattle feeders, pork, sheep and goat associations "implored" the provincial agriculture minister to do what he could to get the federal government to act.

A pledge of $57.5 million over five years to create a vaccine bank (together with $5.6 million in annual operating funds) went beyond what livestock groups had been asking for.

"While we hope this vaccine bank is never needed, we are grateful for today's investment and its establishment," Canadian Cattle Association president Nathan Phinney said in a release. "We appreciate the government listening to our concerns and understanding the critical need to put in place emergency preparedness plans to control the spread of the disease and protect our export markets."

The Canadian Pork Council also praised the federal government.

In last month's federal budget, the government said recent outbreaks of FMD in Asia and Africa "have increased the risk of global spread" and an outbreak here "would cut off exports for all livestock sectors, with major economic implications."

The Canadian Cattle Association estimated a widespread outbreak would have a $65 billion impact on the Canadian economy, Alberta Beef Producers noted.

The threat level ramped up last summer after Australian officials made an alarming discovery after increasing detection efforts following a major foot-and-mouth outbreak in Indonesia. In July, they said they had found so-called ‘viral fragments' of the disease in legally imported food products. Although a fragment of the virus can't spread the disease, the discovery was noted by livestock sectors around the world.

While vaccinating used to be considered a last resort, its use during outbreaks in Japan and South Korea has changed the thinking of experts, and "vaccination would now play a central role in any large- or uncontrolled outbreak in Canada," the Alberta livestock groups wrote in its letter last fall.

It is estimated that 2.5 million doses would be needed but Canada only has access to 330,000 doses from the North American FMD vaccine bank, a joint initiative of the United States, Canada and Mexico.

But US beef industry officials had made it clear that Canada's needs would not be a priority if there were an outbreak, ABP past chair Melanie Wowk said last fall.

"A lot of people refer to it as the North American vaccine bank (but) they were very clear in saying it is not a North American vaccine bank. It's a US bank and "we are not sharing,"" said Wowk.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will set up the vaccine bank and develop response plans to vaccinate cattle if there is an outbreak. The budget also said "the government will seek a cost-sharing arrangement with provinces and territories."

- Alberta Farmer Express