Sludge Watch ==> Canada - Enhanced feed ban to protect from BSE

[Maureen Reilly]

Enhanced Feed Ban Regulations – Questions and Answers

Q1. Also I see that prohibited material in a fertilizer must say on the 
label not to be used on pasture or where ruminant graze...

Don't deer come and graze wherever they like? How does the label warning 
prevent that?

A.  The goal of the regulations is to prevent the transmission and 
perpetration of BSE in domestic livestock in Canada.  While wild ruminants 
are susceptible to CWD, there are no studies demonstrating that oral 
exposure to BSE constitutes a risk to cervids.  If a wild ruminant were to 
develop a TSE from accidental exposure, the Feeds regulations prevent such 
animals from being incorporated livestock feed and thus this occurrence 
would not lead to the perpetration of BSE in Canada. Furthermore, the 
enhanced label warning statements are designed to make user aware of the 
nature of the product and provide additional guidance on restricting product 
use on land where domestic livestock graze.

Q2. Doesn't' a field grow a crop for years and then become a pasture later 
and vice versa? The field changes uses but the prions are still infectious!

A.  The main concern regarding the oral exposure of cattle to SRM that may 
be spread on land (either as sludge or as composted material) is the direct 
ingestion of pieces of tissue that may not have been adequately processed.  
Such pieces of tissue remain only for short periods of time before they 
decompose and as such the potential of direct ingestion by grazing ruminants 
is unlikely particularly considering the current agricultural practices 
(typical crop rotations). Although the oral route of exposure (through 
ingestion of BSE-infected tissues) is the most likely route of exposure, 
many questions remain regarding other potential transmission pathways and 
persistence of prions in the environment. These questions are a subject of 
ongoing scientific research.

Q3. Regulations of TSE's in Canada

A. BSE, CWD and scrapie are reportable diseases under the Health of Animals 
Act.  All known infected animals and all high risk animals for these 
diseases are required to be destroyed by incineration or burial.  Material 
from animals known to be infected with these TSEs are not permitted in the 
human or animal feed chain.  By enacting eradication programs for these 
diseases the CFIA endeavours to minimize and ultimately eliminate the 
presence of these abnormal prions in Canada.  The new amendments to the 
Feeds regulations prohibit the use of bovine SRM and dead ruminants other 
than bovine in animal feed.  This amendment is to address the risk of sheep 
/ goat and cervid deadstock which could potentially harbour CWD or scrapie.

For further information on TSE’s please refer to the following:
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/heasan/disemala/spong/encephe.shtml

With respect to CJD, Health Canada conducts active surveillance for CJD 
through the CJD Surveillance System (CJD-SS). Information collected from the 
surveillance system will be used to determine whether there is any risk that 
CJD will develop as a result of a blood/blood product transfusion or tissue 
transplantation. As a member of an international project team, CJD-SS Canada 
also conducts surveillance for new variant CJD (nv-CJD).

-	In 1998, Health Canada launched a national CJD surveillance system to 
monitor for the disease in 	Canada. This comprehensive surveillance system 
is one of the finest in the world.


-	In August, 2002 the first confirmed case of variant CJD was diagnosed in 
Canada. However, all the 	evidence indicates that, in this case, the 
individual was infected in the UK. There have been no 	subsequent cases of 
variant CJD in Canada


-	The surveillance system assists physicians, patients, hospitals and 
provincial authorities in the investigation of possible cases of classical 
or variant CJD.

-	As of June 2006, there have been 193 definite or probable cases of vCJD 
diagnosed: 161 in the 	United Kingdom; 17 in France; 1 in Canada; 1 in Hong 
Kong; 4 in Republic of Ireland; 1 in 	Italy; 1 	in Japan, 1 in Portugal, 1 
in Spain, 2 in the Netherlands, 1 in Saudi Arabia and 2 in the 	United 
States of America, including 184 deaths.


CJD-SS will continue to use active surveillance methods to seek out and 
investigate all cases of CJD occurring in Canada. For further info on CJD 
surveillance program please visit the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) 
at http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/cjd-mcj/cjdss_e.html or contact Dr. Bob Hills, 
Manager, TSE Secretariat, phone (613) 957-9005 / e-mail 
Bob_Hills at hc-sc.gc.ca .

Q4. Non-bovine material in pet food (risk of exposure to children)

A. The federal Health of Animals Act gives CFIA capacity to address 
potential risks to public health posed by animal diseases and feed ban 
enhancement to prohibit use of bovine SRM in pet food represents a clear 
example of CFIA using its authorities to respond to a known potential risk 
(infection of humans by BSE). As a science-based regulator and in 
partnership with Health Canada and other public health agencies, a broader 
ban on the use of ruminant tissues in livestock feeds and pet foods was a 
part of CFIA's consultations in the past three years.  Given that the 
evidence for potential public health risks, if any, posed by animal TSE 
diseases other than BSE is not strong at present, the CFIA has considered 
scientific information and public comments and has chosen to not extend the 
scope of the ban on ruminant materials to pet foods beyond bovine SRM at 
this time. Furthermore, as indicated above, the CFIA has programs in place 
to control CWD and scrapie with the goal of minimizing and ultimately 
eliminating the presence of these TSEs in domestic livestock in Canada 
thereby precluding abnormal prions from entering the food or feed chain.


Q5. Risks associated with human waste (hospital waste, human blood, 
mortuaries)

Health Canada has specific programs to address these issues as they pertain 
to CJD. Please contact Dr. Bob Hills, Manager, TSE Secretariat, phone (613) 
957-9005/e-mail Bob_Hills at hc-sc.gc.ca for further information.