Dr. Doug MacDougald-Southwest Ontario Veterinary Services:
Canada does not have an overarching swine health strategy.
Each of the provinces responded to the trans-boundary disease threat of PED differently and with little coordination between the provinces.
That clearly identified gaps in response and on a common outcome of, for example, elimination.
Some provinces approached this as immediate focus on elimination and others, including Ontario, did not have that strategy.
It's the black hole of trans-boundary disease responsibility.
Unless it's a reportable disease CFIA has no jurisdiction currently with that.
We have to have a national strategy.
We're a national exporting country so we simply have to have a strong regional focus with a national overarching strategy.
Dr. MacDougald says the risk of trans-boundary disease movement has clearly increased as evidenced by the arrival of 2 strains of PED virus and Deltacoronavirus Detected in Saskatchewan Believed to be Avian in the United States in 2013.
He says globalization of the swine industry and product movement around the globe crates a clear risk factor for the transmission of future trans-boundary and possibly foreign animal disease pathogens.
Source: Farmscape