Notification of reportable and immediately notifiable diseases by researchers

Researchers working with aquatic animals (finfish, molluscs, and crustaceans) are required to notify the CFIA about reportable and immediately notifiable aquatic animal diseases if you are conducting studies using live or dead aquatic animals, or if testing for these diseases is conducted by your laboratory.

Amendments to the Health of Animals Regulations and Reportable Diseases Regulations were published in Canada Gazette Part II, on December 22, 2010, and January 5, 2011, respectively.

The requirements are as follows:

If you suspect or detect (including cases of non-negative test results) a reportable or immediately notifiable aquatic animal disease, notify a veterinary inspector located at your nearest CFIA Animal Health Office, as soon as is reasonably possible.

Researchers are encouraged to develop a protocol to retain the original aquatic animal tissue specimens, especially if the specimens arise from wild aquatic animals, or their isolates of the causative agent of a reportable or immediately notifiable disease. The original tissue specimens may then be shipped to a Fisheries and Oceans Canada National Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory for further testing, if requested by a CFIA veterinary inspector.

The veterinary inspector may require additional information from you which may include:

• scientific name of the animal,
• life stage affected,
• source of the animals, including contact information for the culturist (if applicable),
• number of animals that may be affected,
• disease history of the animals,
• presence of signs of disease,
• mortality numbers,
• laboratory reports, and
• laboratory biocontainment protocols.

The researcher must apply for a permit in order to import a regulated aquatic animal pathogen from another country.

The reportable aquatic animal diseases are:

More information is available on these Reportable Diseases.

The immediately notifiable diseases are: