The Riding Mountain Eradication Area (RMEA) which was established by the CFIA in 2003 is no longer required by the CFIA for the management of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in domestic livestock in the vicinity of Riding Mountain National Park.
The decision to end the RMEA is based on data provided by:
- the testing of approximately 240,000 animals in 2,600 domestic livestock herds from 2003 to 2016, including more than a decade of negative surveillance since the last infected herd was detected in 2008
- the post-mortem testing of approximately 18,000 wild cervids from 1995 to 2018 shows that the prevalence of the disease has declined since 2006 to levels that are undetectable today, with the last infected cervid detected in 2014
Key milestones in the effort to eliminate the need for the RMEA included:
- the 2006 declaration of the RMEA as being free of bovine TB in accordance with the provisions of the Health of Animals Regulations
- the cessation of mandatory on-farm testing for domestic livestock in 2016
- the United States Department of Agriculture's recognition of the RMEA as officially free of bovine TB in 2018
The elimination of the RMEA for CFIA's disease management purposes was made possible with the support of key partner organizations including:
- Manitoba Beef Producers
- Parks Canada Agency
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
- Province of Manitoba (Departments of Agriculture and Sustainable Development)
The CFIA will continue routine slaughter inspection of RMEA livestock to assure ongoing disease freedom. In addition, the Province of Manitoba continues to use the RMEA (which consists of Manitoba's Game Hunting Areas 23 and 23A) to promote biosecurity practices that reduce possible interactions between livestock and cervids and to target bovine TB surveillance of wild cervids in the Riding Mountain area. Hunters should review the Manitoba Hunting Guide for information on mandatory sample submissions.