Research

Background

Disease surveillance plays an important role in early detection, both in terms of changes in prevalence or presentation for diseases we already know about, as well as for detecting new or emerging diseases. Early detection is key to prompt and effective responses that minimize risk to cattle, producers, the industry, and the economy. The Western Canadian Animal Health Network (WeCAHN) is modelled on existing networks in Quebec and Ontario. WeCAHN is a collaborative initiative where veterinarians and other experts can share and discuss animal disease data, emerging animal health events, disease treatment and management strategies, and other current surveillance issues.

Objectives

The objectives of this program are to:

• Build a robust, sustainable western Canadian beef health surveillance network, using the knowledge and expertise of veterinarians, epidemiologists, producers, and animal health laboratories to collect, synthesize and share animal health information to reduce the impact of beef cattle disease.

• Improve the usefulness of veterinary diagnostic laboratory data for the beef industry.

• Deliver timely, targeted information regarding trends in frequency of beef diseases and best treatment practices to beef producers and veterinarians to improve the quality of animal health.

• Create a rapid alert system within an early warning system for beef health events in western Canada, detecting and assessing early surveillance and intelligence signals, and rapidly communicating risks and appropriate mitigation strategies to beef veterinarians and producers, reducing losses, and improving competitiveness.

• Assess the cost-effectiveness of the network and build a sustainable plan to continue the WeCAHN beef network’s operations in the future.

What they did

The WeCAHN beef network involved epidemiologists, representatives from provincial veterinary laboratories in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, a practicing beef veterinarian from each province, the Canadian Integrated Program for Animcirobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS), the Canadian Cow-Calf Surveillance Network, and western beef producers.

They examined data from veterinary practices and diagnostic laboratories to understand changing trends in frequency of disease in different regions to provide early warning for emerging, re-emerging or production limiting disease risks. Data was summarized and distributed along with recommended practices to mitigate identified concerns.

Over the initial three years, WeCAHN developed an early warning system with data collection pipelines and communication networks, analyzed patterns of laboratory data, performed an economic analysis and performance evaluation of the beef network and created a sustainability plan for WeCAHN’s continuity into the future.

What they learned

With input from industry surveillance outcomes were prioritized – bovine tuberculosis, pre-weaning bovine respiratory disease, calf mortality, antimicrobial resistance, Johne’s disease, calf diarrhea, Foot and Mouth Disease, and Salmonella. These outcomes are specifically reported on during network meetings to allow for discussion, with the entire group included in each meeting dataset.

WeCAHN participants’ diverse backgrounds provides several advantages. Diagnosticians provide insight to lab findings from the practitioners’ cases as well as the major lab data downloads provided quarterly. Practitioners offer context to lab findings and trends. Provincial ministry staff share the regulatory perspective as well as having direct contact with producers – who are the heart of the surveillance system.

Findings such as neonatal calves with significant liver disease, or the recent decreased pregnancy rates in cows show how cross-specialist discussions can help define problems and identify potential risk management strategies.

The flexibility of the system allows it to be used for a variety of surveillance objectives, for example, studying trends in frequency of disease, examining case findings, or supporting Canada’s assertion for freedom of disease.

Over time, WeCAHN intends to grow and include feedlot data.

What it means

Surveillance and diagnostic capacity in Alberta have been severely under resourced for at least two decades. Programs like WeCAHN, the Canadian Cow-Calf Surveillance Network, the Canadian Cow-Calf Health and Productivity Enhancement Network, the Canadian Feedlot Antimicrobial Use and Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program, the Canadian Animal Health Surveillance System Beef Network and continuing efforts at the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine to expand their diagnostic services are helping to address this shortfall, but this type of funding is notoriously difficult to obtain and maintain over the long term.

Thanks to COVID-19, the entire world now understands how important early detection, information sharing, and rapid response are to effectively manage human disease outbreaks. The same principles apply to livestock.