Three cattle with bluetongue have been identified in the
Chatham-Kent area, meaning Canada has lost its access to many export markets,
but not the United States.
Cattle exports are banned to the European Community, the
Philippines, Ukraine, Colombia, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Moldova,
Morocco, Serbia, Switzerland and Tunisia; cattle semen to the European
Community, China, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Australia, New Zealand, Algeria, Burkina
Faso, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Norway, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tunisia, Vanuatu
and Vietnam; and cattle embryos to China, Japan and Iran.
Countries now blocking imports of both Canadian sheep and
goats include the European Community, Russia, Ukraine, Chile, Guyana, Trinidad
and Tobago, Switzerland, St-Vincent, Serbia, Macedonia, Iran, Lebanon (for
slaughter) and the Azores. Barbados and Swaziland will now also block live
Canadian goats, while the European Community will also block live Canadian
camelids, such as alpacas and llamas.
Countries blocking sheep and goat embryos now include the
European Community, Iran, Chile, Jamaica and St-Vincent. China, Colombia,
Taiwan and Israel will also block Canadian hides, and Vietnam will block
porcine dried blood.
According to the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, under
OIE standards, a country with an ongoing surveillance program can again be
deemed bluetongue-free after showing no evidence of infection for two
years and no midge for at least two years.
One infected cow was identified
at slaughter and a traceback identified two more on the farm in south-western
Ontario.
The Ontario Sheep Marketing
Agency is cautioning its members to be on high alert for the disease.
