Calling in the Feds: The Nitty-Gritty with Drs. Luc Bergeron and Margaret McGeoghegan. Animal Health Insights, Ep. 11b, Nov. 26, 2021

Some diseases have the potential to be so threatening to animal or human health, or so rapidly contagious, that veterinary authorities need to aware of a single case as soon as possible. For some of these reportable diseases, actions or interventions are required immediately, while for others, veterinary authorities need to be aware of their occurrence simply for disease surveillance and monitoring purposes. Veterinarians in practice, and even animal owners, are required to contact these authorities if they have even just the suspicion that an animal *might* have one of these reportable infections.

Once a veterinarian has contacted the appropriate authorities, these federal veterinarians (from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency) and sometimes provincial veterinarians, are involved in the processes of disease surveillance for certain specific diseases. In the rare case of a significant disease outbreak, these experts monitor the patterns of disease spread, and when indicated, may be involved in management of the case to ensure it does not  turn into an incident affecting many animals, many humans, and our national food security systems and public health. This is an important role, and often involves several specialists working on the front lines, the middle lines, and behind the scenes, to ensure rapid diagnosis and appropriate management of an outbreak. Dr. Margaret McGeoghegan from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and Dr. Luc Bergeron, a disease surveillance veterinarian from Quebec, help to demystify these situations, and provide some clarification as to just who does what, and why and how they do it in the case of an animal health incident. 

Links of Interest:

• Terrestrial Animal Diseases list and information - CFIA
• CAHSS Tools - Reportable and Notifiable Regulated Disease Tables
• RAIZO - MAPAQ 
• OMAFRA - Livestock Disease Control and Prevention
• Manitoba Animal Health, Disease Control and Surveillance
• Disease Surveillance and Management - Saskatchewan
• Provincially Regulated Animal Diseases - Alberta
• Animal Disease - Foreign Animal Disease - British Columbia
• Yukon Animal Health Unit
• Newfoundland Animal Disease Surveillance
• Nova Scotia Notifiable Animal Diseases
• Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative - wildlife disease surveillance