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| Scrapie Canada Updates
August 2005
Scrapie
Flock Certification Program (SFCP) pilot project
What is SFCP?
The SFCP National Standards were
developed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA),
in collaboration with the sheep industry, as the basis
for Canada’s on-farm, voluntary scrapie control
program. It is intended to be a long-term, internationally
recognized flock/herd scrapie control program for
the sheep and goat industries. This program is unique
as a CFIA approved disease control strategy.
The CFIA only provides a guiding hand in ensuring
that the program retains key requirements to meet
international standards. The day-to-day management
and verification is placed in the hands of industry.
If shown to be effective, the SFCP may be used as
a template for other industry-led TSE control programs.
How does the SFCP work?
Given the nature of scrapie (see
‘What is scrapie?’), infection in a flock/herd
may go undetected for many years. As well, with
no reliable live animal test for detecting the disease
in individual animals, one-time testing and eradication
not possible. Working with these restrictions,
the SFCP is designed to gradually assess whether flocks/herds
are currently infected and to minimize the risk of
contracting scrapie in the future. Flocks/herds
advance through the various levels of the program
as the risk of scrapie infection decreases. Producers
have the option of following one of three pathways
under the program. In Pathway 1, the assessment
of risk (level the flock/herd has achieved on the
program) is determined by the number of years that
the producer has followed program requirements and
scrapie has not been detected. In this pathway,
flocks/herds advance one level (E, D, C, B, A, certified)
for every year that the requirements are met.
In Pathways 2&3, other technologies, such as genotyping
for resistance to scrapie, are used in combination
with disease surveillance to reach certification in
a fewer number of years.
Requirements for all pathways include:
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Surveillance for
the disease is made by submitting brain samples
from all adult sheep and goats that die on-farm.
If no animals die on farm during a 12-month period,
a sample from at least one cull animal over 24
months must be submitted. |
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Producers must work
with a veterinarian accredited with CFIA to deliver
the SFCP. |
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Producers must make an annual,
vet supervised inventory their flocks/herds and
maintain documentation throughout the year on
animals entering and leaving the premises. |
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The flock/herd must
be closed to additions of female animals, except
from flocks/herds on the same or higher program
level. The source of rams, bucks and/or
semen is not as restricted, although some conditions
do apply in Pathways 2 & 3. |
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Why conduct a pilot project?
There are many reasons for controlling
scrapie in the sheep and goat industries, including improved
animal welfare, marketing advantages for individual producers,
and strengthening the overall image of the industries.
However, if the costs of the program greatly outweigh the
benefits for individual producers, there will be little
uptake of this voluntary program. Therefore, the primary
goal of the pilot project is to generate information by
testing the program on 60 sheep flocks and 10 goat herds
from across the country. Producers can then apply
a cost/benefit analysis of using the SFCP for managing the
risk of scrapie on their own farms. In addition to
determining program costs, the pilot project will test the
on-farm practicality of the National Standards as developed
by CFIA. Standards will be reviewed annually (or as
needed) with CFIA and a producer committee to ensure the
program is as user friendly as possible while retaining
CFIA approval.
Why join the SFCP pilot project?
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The SFCP is recognized
by the USDA and certification with the program may be
required in the future for exporting breeding stock. |
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Participating producers are eligible
to continue on the certification program at the same
level that they have attained during the pilot project.
As the minimum time to reach certification following
Pathway 1 is five years, this may provide a significant
advantage to producers wishing to become certified. |
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This is a five-year project,
with funding provided between 2005 and 2010.
Some costs incurred by producers participating in
the pilot will be covered by project funding:
» The project will cover cost of brain sample
analysis.
» Producers will be reimbursed $50/year for
a minimum of the first two years on the project for
vet bills incurred through inventory and obex (brain
tissue) removal. |
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Producers participating in
this project will provide an important step in moving
us toward a TSE-free industry. |
The National
Genotyping Survey
What is the National Genotyping
Survey?
Variations at three regions of the sheep
prion gene (codons 136, 154, 171) are associated with how
easily sheep exposed to scrapie will become infected.
By genotype testing, it is possible to determine which animals
are genetically resistant to scrapie and will pass that
resistance on to their lambs. Through this project,
sheep breeders are offered the opportunity to genotype registered
sheep at a discounted rate. Targeting purebred animals will
hopefully lead to an eventual increase in scrapie resistance
of the entire national flock.
Although genotyping is used in scrapie
control programs in many countries, this project is currently
the most extensive testing program in the world. Because
the Canadian project includes ewes as well as rams, producers
are better able to use the information to develop breeding
programs that consider quality and performance first and
then look at scrapie resistance among those top performing
animals. There is no requirement for producers testing
with this project to cull animals of a particular genotype.
It is important to note that animals with susceptible genotypes
do not have scrapie; only a greater potential of contracting
the disease if they are exposed. The desired outcome
of the project is to maintain flock productivity while increasing
the scrapie resistance of the flock. This may include
selective mating of highly productive animals with a genetic
susceptibility to contracting scrapie with those of a more
resistant genotype (Please see the accompanying article
‘Tips for using genotype information to breed for
scrapie resistance in sheep’).
The National Survey of Scrapie Genetics
at a Glance:
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Samples will be accepted
between June 2005 and November 2006, with funding available
for 36,000 head. |
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Discounted rate ($10/sample) for
lab analysis of three codons of the sheep prion gene
(codons 136, 154, 171) |
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All sheep tested must be registered
with the Canadian Livestock Records Corporation.
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Producers must use a veterinarian
for collecting the blood samples |
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Part of the vet visit (75% up to
$6/sample) and shipping cost (50%) will be reimbursed,
provided producers send in vet invoice within 90 days
of sampling. |
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Results will be forwarded to a national
database, which already includes data from the Nova
Scotia and British Columbia provincial genotyping projects.
The database will be expanded to link Canadian Livestock
Records Corporation records with the new genotyping
data. Information on individual flocks will be
password protected and accessible only by the flock
owner. However, project summaries and a forum
for posting tested animals that are for sale will be
open to all producers. |
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In order to include as much information
as possible in the database, producers genotyping registered
animals between June 2003 and June 2005 are eligible
to receive $5/animal when they submit official lab reports
of genotype results. The analysis must have been
paid for completely by producers and not funded through
various provincial projects. |
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This project is intended to provide
producers with information to make breeding decisions
for their own flocks and is not part of the certification
program. |
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