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August 18, 2017, Ottawa: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), in collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Equestrian Canada, and other equine stakeholders, has created a biosecurity user guide to help horse owners and custodians protect their horses from infectious diseases. The National Farm and Facility Level Biosecurity User Guide for the Equine Sector supports the National Farm and Facility Level Biosecurity Standard for the Equine Sector (also known as the standard) that was released in June 2016 and contains guidelines and recommendations.
Together, the biosecurity user guide and the standard will help horse owners and custodians develop and implement biosecurity by:
- raising awareness of biosecurity risks and how to reduce the risk of transmitting diseases
- providing a nationally consistent approach to develop and implement a farm or facility biosecurity plan
- improving horse health and facilitating the routine movement, transport and assembly of horses, which is fundamental to the equine sector
The standard and biosecurity user guide are voluntary. Horse owners and custodians can use them in their entirety or to supplement existing biosecurity programs.
Funding to develop the standard and biosecurity user guide has been provided under the Growing Forward 2 Agricultural Policy Framework.
The standard and biosecurity user guide were developed by the Equine Biosecurity Advisory Committee, which included horse owners, representatives of sector associations, equine veterinarians, academics, and federal and provincial specialists.