Risk management of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in North America

As North American Free Trade Agreement partners, Canada, the United States of America (USA) and Mexico apply independent but harmonised transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) risk management strategies in observance of Office International des Epizooties guidelines. The divergence between bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) risk management approaches in North American and Europe reflects comparatively reduced external and internal BSE risks in North America. The external quarantine and internal surveillance measures adopted for BSE respond to several iterations of national risk assessments initiated in the early 1990s and revised as recently as 2002. Feed bans applied since 1997 to preclude establishment of BSE also bear the potential to limit intra-species and inter-species exposure to scrapie, chronic wasting disease (CWD) and transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME). Surveillance continues for the four TSEs through collaborative efforts of national and sub-national veterinary infrastructures and accompanying laboratory networks. Mexico has never identified the presence of any TSE. The last diagnosed case of TME in North America dates back to 1985. Since the only recognised appearance in Canada through an import from Great Britain in 1993, BSE has not been detected in North America. Scrapie and CWD remain at generally low prevalence in Canada and the USA. Independent but harmonised eradication programmes target elimination of the latter two diseases.