BSE Surveillance and Sampling Services

On May 20, 2003, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), otherwise known as “mad cow disease” was confirmed in an animal born and raised in Canada. On January 9, 2004, as part of a national BSE response strategy, the Government of Canada announced that it would enhance its BSE surveillance testing. To date, there have been 20 cases of BSE identified in Canadian-born cattle. The most recent case of BSE, detected on February 11, 2015, illustrates the need for ongoing surveillance. As part of its BSE surveillance program the CFIA intends to contract with the Animal Health Laboratory (Laboratory Services Division, University of Guelph) to perform surveillance testing for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in Ontario.

The work will involve the collection of Obex samples from dead animals (“the samples”) and their transportation to Contractor’s Animal Health Laboratory (AHL) located in Guelph, Ontario is the sole responsibility of the CFIA or its agents. The samples shall be collected by the CFIA and transported to the Contractor and the AHL in batches of approximately 40 samples once per week for the duration of the Service Contract. The Contractor shall conduct testing upon the samples using a rapid test that has been approved by the CFIA for BSE diagnostics. A CFIA-approved testing protocol will be used, including quality control measures. The procedure will also be subject to proficiency testing coordinated by the National BSE Reference Laboratory at the CFIA Lethbridge Laboratory. The testing shall be carried out with appropriate bio-security safeguards and under the direction of a qualified laboratory veterinarian with expertise in the methodology.