Overview: Proposed changes to Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Control Program

On this page

• Introduction
• Background
• Proposed changes to our Chronic Wasting Disease Control Program

Introduction

We were proposing changes to the CFIA's CWD Control Program to more effectively manage disease risks in farmed cervids while maintaining a precautionary testing approach to keep cervids known to be infected with CWD from entering the commercial food supply.

We were looking for feedback on this program change from:

• cervid producers
• other government departments and agencies (including provincial/territorial)
• individuals
• businesses and organizations involved with farmed or wild cervids
• veterinary and other medical professionals
• Indigenous Peoples and producers
• academia
• consumers
• other interested public parties

Feedback will be used to determine positive and negative impacts the proposed changes may have on different partners and stakeholders and identify more opportunities to further strengthen our approach to CWD management in Canada.

Background

CWD in wild and farmed cervids in Canada

CWD continues to spread within Canada. CWD is now established in wild cervids in Saskatchewan and much of Alberta and new cases continue to be detected in cervid farms and in wild cervids in these 2 provinces. CWD was also detected in 1 red deer farm in Quebec in 2018, and since 2021 there have been ongoing detections in wild cervids in Manitoba. CWD was first detected in British Columbia in wild cervids in January 2024. CWD has not been detected in Canadian wild cervid populations in other provinces or territories and has not been detected in wild caribou anywhere in Canada.

Human health concern

To date, there has been no known transmission of CWD to humans and there is no direct evidence to suggest that CWD may be transmitted to humans. But scientific uncertainty remains for zoonotic (animal to human) and cross-species transmission. Some animal studies suggest that CWD prions could infect some types of non-human primates under experimental conditions. Experts continue to study whether this disease has the potential to infect other animals or humans and if so, under what circumstances.

One Health issue

In recent years, many partners and stakeholders have advocated for CWD management in Canada using a One Health approach that recognizes the interconnections between people, animals, plants and their shared environment. The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) envisions and implements One Health as a global initiative.

Management in Canada

The control of CWD in Canada is a joint responsibility that necessitates close collaboration among all levels of government, industry and the public. We are the lead federal agency responsible for CWD management in farmed cervids. Other federal government departments and the provinces and territories have primary jurisdiction over CWD management in wildlife. Provincial and territorial governments are also responsible for disease control actions in farmed cervid herds that are not undergoing our CWD control measures.

Federal management programs

CWD is a federally reportable disease under the Health of Animals Act and Reportable Diseases Regulations. This means that by law, all cervids suspected of being infected with CWD must be reported to CFIA for investigation.

In 2012, CFIA concluded that CWD could not be eradicated from Canada with the tools available. In 2018, we switched from an eradication policy to one of control, incorporating the WOAH concept of compartmentalization and focusing on disease prevention and risk management. Under CFIA's mandate to protect animal health in Canada, we currently implement a CWD Control Program and act as national administrator for the CWD Herd Certification Programs (CWD HCP).

Our current disease control program

CFIA's current CWD Control Program encourages disease prevention and early detection by focusing response actions on CWD-infected herds that are enrolled in a CWD HCP and found to be compliant at level D or higher through our CWD HCP compliance evaluation. The response actions for such herds, called the CFIA CWD compartment response, include:

• placing a quarantine
• tracing of epidemiological links to other cervid herds
• issuing a declaration of infected place
• ordering destruction (with associated compensation if eligible)
• conducting CWD testing on all cervids aged 12 months or older
• conducting an environmental contamination assessment
• assisting with development of a cleaning and disinfection plan
• ordering cleaning and disinfection
• approving cleaning and disinfection

CFIA also takes response actions in CWD-infected herds that are not eligible for our CWD compartment response. These include placing a quarantine, tracing of epidemiological links to other cervid herds and conducting confirmatory testing.

The second goal of our current CWD Control Program applies to all CWD-infected farmed cervid herds and aligns with Health Canada's recommended precautionary approach to keep cervids known to be infected with CWD out of the commercial food supply. All CWD-exposed cervids (that is, those originating from all CWD-infected farms) must be tested for CWD, with negative results, before release of their consumable products into the marketplace.

CFIA analysis of current CWD Control Program

The current CWD Control Program was phased in starting on April 1st, 2018, with full implementation on April 1st, 2019. Effectiveness of the program was not expected to be evident until a minimum of 3 years later due to regional variability in implementation of the CWD HCP and the long incubation period of CWD.

In 2022, we analyzed and assessed the effectiveness of our CWD control measures and the following were noted:

• cervid herds on farms that have adopted strong risk mitigation measures against CWD are still becoming infected with CWD
• testing required to achieve a precautionary approach is not consistently applied

These findings led to the conclusion that the CWD risk management strategy that we used to promote prevention by ordering the destruction of, and paying compensation for, infected HCP herds that were found to be compliant with CWD risk mitigation measures, was not effective. In addition, it did not ensure a consistent precautionary approach to keep cervids known to be infected with CWD out of the commercial food supply.

Proposed changes to our CWD Control Program

Effective CWD risk management

Our current CWD Control Program is not meeting our goal of controlling CWD through promotion of preventing disease introduction and early detection in farmed cervid herds. Infected cervid populations have continued to spread geographically in Canada since implementation of the current program in 2019. We must make changes to our CWD Control Program to better manage current risks to farmed cervid populations and to continue to ensure a precautionary approach to limit human exposure by keeping cervids known to be infected with CWD out of the commercial food supply.

Proposed goals for our new CWD Control Program

The proposed goals of our new CWD Control Program are to protect farmed cervid herds and to minimize human exposure to CWD prions.

Regional variability in CWD status in Canada

Currently there is wide geographic variation in the proportion of CWD-infected cervids, known as CWD prevalence, within cervid populations in Canada. In some parts of the country cervids are unaffected by CWD. In other parts of the country, the disease has become established in both wild and farmed cervid populations. Our proposed CWD Control Program recognizes regional variability in CWD status for the purposes of CWD risk management. Under the proposed program change, we will consider CWD to be established in a province or territory where CWD has been detected in wild and farmed cervids for 2 or more consecutive years. We will consider CWD to be emerging in a province or territory where CWD has been detected in some wild cervid populations for 2 or more consecutive years, but not in farmed cervids. We will consider CWD to be not detected in provinces or territories where CWD has not been detected in wild or farmed cervids in the last 5 years.

Disease control measures for infected cervid farms located in parts of Canada where CWD is established or emerging

Our program performance assessment found that our current CWD control measures have not been effective at controlling CWD within certain parts of Canada. Destruction of infected farmed cervid herds in parts of Canada where wild cervid populations are affected by CWD has not reduced the risk of disease introduction to other farmed cervid herds or controlled the spread of CWD. In the limited spectrum of tools that exist to control CWD, destruction of infected cervid herds can only be considered as an eradication measure when the disease has not yet become established in the wild cervid population in the vicinity of the farm. Therefore, we are proposing that we will not order destruction^{note de bas de page 1} of CWD-infected herds in provinces or territories where CWD is established or emerging.

Further strengthening our commitment to take a One Health approach to CWD, we will enhance:

• access to information and advice on CWD
• scientific and laboratory support
• training on live animal testing

for partners, producers and other stakeholders across Canada, including in areas where CWD is established or emerging.

Disease control measures in parts of Canada where CWD is not detected

We will continue to offer to work collaboratively with provinces or territories not affected by CWD to carry out eradication measures if the first case is detected in a farmed cervid, on the condition that the relevant provincial or territorial wildlife authority carry out similar eradication measures in wild cervids in the vicinity of the infected farm. This collaborative aggressive response will be undertaken to prevent further spread of CWD into that part of Canada.

Note: Enrollment in a CWD HCP will no longer be linked to CFIA's CWD control measures anywhere in Canada.

Precautionary testing for parts of Canada in which CWD is established or emerging

CWD screening tests used in provincial or territorial animal health surveillance programs for farmed and wild cervids are currently conducted at provincial laboratories which are members of the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Lab Network that we approve. Confirmatory tests are conducted at our National CWD Reference Laboratory. We currently only conduct screening tests on CWD-infected farmed cervid herds undergoing CFIA's CWD compartment response (that is, those ordered destroyed by us).

We use the term precautionary testing to describe CWD testing conducted to meet Health Canada's recommended precautionary approach, ensuring that no cervids known to be infected with CWD are released into the commercial food supply. Regional variability in CWD status in Canada requires a regional approach to precautionary testing based on disease risk. We will oversee development of a framework to ensure consistent precautionary CWD testing on all farmed cervids destined for the commercial food supply in provinces or territories where CWD is established or emerging. In addition to cervids slaughtered in abattoirs, this will include those slaughtered on-farm or hunted at captive hunt farms. Release of carcasses and consumable products from CWD-exposed cervids into the commercial food supply will continue to be permitted upon receipt of negative CWD test results.

In parts of Canada where CWD is not established or emerging, precautionary testing will continue to be met through current CWD screening tests conducted at provincial laboratories and confirmatory tests conducted at our National CWD Reference Laboratory.

Movement of live cervids originating from infected herds located in parts of Canada where CWD is established or emerging

Restrictions on movement of live cervids from CWD-infected herds are currently accomplished under CFIA's Cervid Movement Permit policy. Live cervids originating from CWD-infected herds in Canada will continue to be permitted to move only to terminal locations (abattoirs or terminal hunt farms), if allowed by provincial or territorial authorities.

Note: There will be a repeal of cervid movement permits once federal farmed and captive cervid traceability regulations come into force. Upon repeal of cervid movement permits, we will issue a different type of license for movement conditions related to CWD. In parts of Canada where CWD is not established or emerging, a CFIA licence will no longer be required to move cervids.

Movement of cervid products from CWD-exposed cervids

CWD-exposed cervids are those from infected herds. To ensure a precautionary approach, release of products (for example, velvet) into the commercial food supply from all CWD-exposed cervids is only permitted upon receipt of negative CWD test results from the source cervid. Under the proposed program change, we will work to develop a framework to ensure consistent precautionary testing on all farmed cervids destined for the commercial food supply in provinces or territories in which CWD is established or emerging. Therefore, if test results are negative, movement conditions for products originating from CWD-exposed cervids will be met. We continue to prioritize research into live animal testing options that may allow for trade of products from CWD-exposed cervids without the need for post-mortem testing.

CWD Herd Certification Programs

We will continue to oversee and support the CWD HCPs, through development and maintenance of the national standards and identification of epidemiologically-linked herds and CWD-exposed cervids through disease investigation procedures.

Export of live cervids and cervid products

CWD HCPs have allowed market access for enrolled producers even in areas with CWD in wild cervids. Impacts of our new CWD Control Program on exports of live cervids and cervid products are unknown at this time. To allow for export to continue, we will discuss with trading partners any changes they may require in export procedures because of changes to our CWD Control Program.