Emergency Disease Outbreak Plans

February 7, 2017

Over the last six months, Serecon has been working in collaboration with other industry experts in developing Emergency Management Plans and Guidelines for Canadian livestock commodity groups and producers across Canada. This work is being conducted on behalf of the Canadian Animal Health Coalition (CAHC). Emergency management plans and guidelines have already been designed in some shape or form for all Canadian poultry organizations, of which Serecon has also contributed its efforts to.

These producer guidelines and organizational plans are designed to be used by producers and commodity organizations in the event of a major animal disease outbreak. Responding quickly is critical in the event of an outbreak to prevent further spread of the disease and to expedite the recovery process and return to “business as usual” operations. Disease outbreaks can have disastrous market and trade impacts as exhibited in BSE in 2003. Although not all reportable diseases will have as drastic implications as BSE, it is important to have a plan on how an organization/producer should respond in the event they suspect or have a confirmed case of a federally or provincially reportable disease.

We will be working with a variety of commodity groups across Canada and will be designing customized plans and guidelines for each participating provincial commodity group. The designing of plans and guidelines is an iterative process:

Awareness Workshops - held to canvass the needs and concerns of industry stakeholders
Design and construction of plans and guidelines
Simulations Exercise – testing of the plans and guidelines with commodity groups, government, and industry stakeholders
Final Distribution of Plans and Guidelines

The main objective of this project is to better prepare producers and provincial livestock commodity groups to respond to an animal disease outbreak. To discuss these plans further with Serecon, email Todd Bergen-Henengouwen and call him at 780-540-5319.