Industry is applauding the federal government’s progress toward a foot-and-mouth disease vaccine bank after it awarded supply contracts to two companies.
Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health and Biogenesis Bago SA will supply vaccine products and develop the vaccine bank.
Canadian Cattle Association Saskatchewan director and former Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association president Garner Deobald, who formerly worked for Boehringer, said both companies are well respected and were good choices.
“I think it is important, for sure, to be ready,” he said.
“If we aren’t, there’s a lot of risk in it. Having the vaccine there and having control of it ourselves, in our own country, if there ever was an outbreak our response, would be way quicker and should minimize the fallout somewhat.”
The suppliers were chosen by a competitive procurement process, the government said.
Canada has access to some vaccines through the North American bank, but livestock producers have been asking for one dedicated for Canadian herds.
In the federal government’s 2023 budget, it committed $57.5 million over five years, plus ongoing funding, to develop the bank and response plans.
FMD is highly contagious and affects cattle, sheep, hogs and other cloven-hoofed animals. An infection causes painful blisters, which make it hard for animals to eat, walk and produce milk, thereby making them weak and sick. There is no health risk to humans.
Vaccine banks carry various strains of FMD antigens in a concentrated form. The vaccines can then be produced quickly if the disease is detected.
In addition to the response plan, Canada focuses on prevention through strict import rules, on-farm biosecurity and disease surveillance.
CCA president Tyler Fulton said the bank is a vital tool to safeguard Canadian livestock and international trade.
Borders close when FMD is detected, and the economic threat in Canada has been estimated at $22 to $75 billion, depending on how the disease gets into the country and how much it spreads.
Dairy Farmers of Canada president David Wiens said the vaccines would minimize impacts and help return the country to FMD-free status quicker.
“This is vital for protecting animal health and farm sustainability, contributing to a safe, reliable and consistent food supply for Canadians,” he said.
The Canadian Pork Council also welcomed the ongoing investment in the vaccine bank as proof of co-operation to protect producers and processors.
Canada’s only FMD outbreak was just outside Regina in 1952. It is believed the disease came from contaminated meat products brought from another country and eventually fed to pigs. That led to further spread.
Forty-two premises were affected by the outbreak; 29 were determined to be infected. The cost was about $1 billion.