Canada reveals biosecurity standards for goats
The standard, which provides a series of management practices, has been developed over two years by the Canadian National Goat Federation (CNGF) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), with input from goat farmers, academics and local governments.
It applies to farms of all sizes and covers sourcing livestock, animal health, on-farm management, movement of people and vehicles, record-keeping and communications, offering advice on how to minimise the risk of transmissible diseases, such as Johne’s disease, Q fever, brucellosis, tuberculosis and scrapie.
“This tool was developed with industry, for industry, to improve animal health on-farm,” said Canada’s Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. “Goat producers can use the standard to enhance their disease prevention methods and this will benefit their business and the overall industry.”
CNGF president Myrna Coombs added: “The implementation of on-farm biosecurity is a cornerstone to managing the risk of animal disease in Canadian goat herds. Keeping our herds disease-free is an important part of ensuring our producers are profitable and competitive.”
Canada already has National Biosecurity Standards for beef cattle, swine and poultry farms. A National Biosecurity Standard for sheep is currently in development.
