The recent foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Germany tells us we all collectively need to be on the lookout for it.
For Canada, the Beef Cattle Research Council has been the centre for compiling information, putting out brochures and posters illustrating clinical signs, and organizing webinars and videos for veterinarians and producers. These should be of interest to the general public as well.
We all know FMD is an extremely contagious viral disease affecting all cloven-hoof animals, which includes wildlife species such as elk or deer as well as all farm production animals. Horses can get a disease called vesicular stomatitis, which resembles FMD.
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FMD symptoms do resemble vesicular stomatitis or bluetongue, which is what they were ruling out in Germany. It also resembles more common diseases with oral lesions, such as BVD and IBR.
Producers, and the general public, need to be aware of several things. One is where outbreaks are happening in the world. The other is that the most likely transmission route is travellers bringing the disease into Canada from abroad, either on themselves or on contaminated meat.
(For the public, a huge misnomer to remember is that FMD in animals is not the same as hand, foot and mouth disease, an infection children can commonly get from other kids.)
Even-tighter border security, and the use of more sniffer dogs for meat, are a great preventive step. These days, this step would also help prevent the introduction of African swine fever into the country.
Diligence about biosecurity helps prevent not only FMD and ASF but all transmissible diseases that affect animals and humans.
We all saw how biosecurity could be increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that is now a somewhat distant memory and we have all gone back to old habits.
The list of countries with FMD outbreaks is ever-changing, but hopefully the media can keep us up to date. Generally speaking, most of Africa and much of Asia and the Middle East are endemic for the disease. Countries such as Turkey — and, in January, Germany — have had outbreaks in recent years. The World Organization for Animal Health has a great web page showing where FMD exists.
It is scary to think the disease is only an air flight away under the right circumstances.
Prevention is always the best remedy, which is why it’s important to ask questions at the border such as whether travelers were on a farm while abroad and if they plan to travel to a farm while in Canada.
Tourists visiting mountain parks are one example of where wildlife could become infected.
I believe stricter protocols with disinfection might be necessary, depending on where travellers come from. For example, a farm worker coming from Africa or Germany might require quarantine or at least strict scrutiny.
Producers should be very aware of where visitors to their farms are coming from, as well as the FMD and ASF status of their home countries.
When a country reports an outbreak, it results in an immediate cessation of meat exports from that country.
FMD has been called the greatest economic threat and the most important transboundary animal disease in the world.
I have heard it can spread over land up to 60 km and over oceans up to 300 km. Those are scary numbers, and though they are extreme, we need to remain vigilant.
A sign-in register for visitors to our farms, for example, is where we as individuals fall short. This is especially true on purebred operations, which could employ foreign workers or host visitors from abroad.
Self-isolation in some cases may be the most appropriate thing to do.
Heavier fines and/or people being turned back at the border when unlawful products are brought in are likely necessary to stress the seriousness of the situation.
It’s also important to know how to identify the disease if it shows up on your farm. Signs of infection include animals that are drooling or lame with initial blister-type lesions that soon rupture and appear as open wounds before clearing up in a few days.
This is where a diligent producer can call in a veterinarian, who can then notify the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to start the investigative process.
If FMD is ever found in Canada, hopefully we’ll get lucky like in Germany, where the farm was relatively isolated and the disease pretty much contained.
They always say it is not a case of if we get FMD but when. I would highly hope we can prevent entry and if it does enter, diligent producers and veterinarians recognize it right away, for the sake of the entire cattle industry but also hogs, sheep, goats and cloven-hoofed wildlife.
