Annex 3 - "WHAT WE HEARD"

Summary of the proceedings of the Canadian Poultry Forum

October 27 & 28, Abbotsford, British Columbia

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INTRODUCTION

With the outbreak of avian influenza (AI) in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia (B.C.) entering the recovery phase, a "lessons learned" forum was jointly convened by the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (MAFF), the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the B.C. Poultry Committee on October 27 and 28, 2004. Approximately 190 participants, including representatives of the poultry industry (B.C. and national associations) and allied trades, as well as federal, provincial and municipal governments involved in the response to AI attended the two-day meeting.

The forum provided participants with an opportunity to review the circumstances around the AI outbreak in the Fraser Valley of B.C. and to identify improvements that could be implemented in response to future animal disease outbreaks. The objectives of the forum were set out as follows:

• Enable the Canadian poultry industry and regulators to review and learn from the recent AI outbreak.
• Provide support for Canadian industry partners to enhance national biosecurity protocols.
• Provide support for enhanced emergency management procedures to ensure that any future disease outbreaks are handled in the most efficient manner.
• Recommend strategies to mitigate future outbreaks and support industry and community economic recovery.

Participants were satisfied that the forum succeeded in meeting its objectives. To finalize this review process the conveners have prepared this "What We Heard" document, which includes an overview of the proceedings, as well as a listing of agreed upon action items and follow-up leads.

GENERAL OVERVIEW

The forum agenda included a chronology of the overall response to the AI and a scientific overview of the epidemiology of the outbreak. The CFIA, Health Canada (Public Health Agency of Canada) and B.C. provincial ministries each conducted internal reviews in advance of this meeting and their findings were presented at the forum. A "lessons learned" presentation was also provided by the B.C. Poultry Industry. Common themes raised during these presentations included:

• The importance of identifying and building on the lessons learned from the AI outbreak in B.C., in order to be better prepared for future foreign animal disease outbreaks, anywhere in Canada.
• The need to improve mutual understanding of emergency response roles and responsibilities and to integrate the various emergency response plans of those involved in responding to foreign animal disease outbreaks, including public health authorities.
• The importance of adopting a precautionary approach (with the involvement of public health authorities) when managing an emerging infectious disease, particularly in the early stages.
• The significant role of affected industries in emergency planning and response. Industry contacts, knowledge and capacity are critical inputs to an effective emergency response and should be leveraged from the outset.
• The need for an industry led process to enhance bio-security standards and protocols.
• The importance of identifying and addressing issues around compensation programs and policies, prior to a future outbreak.
• The need to examine enhanced disease surveillance, rapid bio-containment and pre-emptive culls as potential strategies to mitigate the impact of future AI outbreaks.

In addition to the "lessons learned" presentations, the forum agenda also included a series of panel discussions that focused on "moving forward".

Panel discussion topics included:

• Animal and Human Health Interface;
• Bio-security;
• Enhanced Emergency Management; and
• Industry and Community Economic Recovery.

The feedback from these panel discussions was summarized by key themes, recommendations and action plans (below).

Guest speakers contributed substantially to the discussions by providing an international perspectives as well as lessons learned from the management of other major emergency situations. Dr. Susanne Waelen, Veterinary Policy Officer, Ministry of Agriculture Nature and Food Quality, Netherlands, provided an overview of the 2003 AI outbreak in the Netherlands. Her presentation drew several parallels with the Canadian AI experience. Dr. James Young, Commissioner of Emergency Management, Province of Ontario, addressed the challenges of emergency management, drawing from experiences such as the SARS outbreak and 2003 power blackout in Ontario. Finally, Dr. Max Coats, Deputy Executive Director, Animal Health Programs, Texas Animal Health Commission, provided an overview of the AI outbreak in Texas, and described the state's disease response plans and preparation.

Copies ofpresentations made during the forum are available at: http://www.bcac.bc.ca/Poultry.htm

A copy of the CFIA's AI outbreak summary report is available at: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/heasan/
disemala/avflu/2005fraser/frasere.shtml

FEEDBACK BY THEME

Animal and Human Health Interface

• Outbreaks of zoonotic disease are increasing worldwide.
• AI is becoming increasingly recognized as a potential source for human influenza outbreaks and as a potential threat to public health.
• Greater collaboration and linkages are required between animal and human health experts to respond effectively to future zoonotic disease outbreaks.
• Better integration of animal health/public health emergency response plans and approaches is required to support early notification and rapid sharing of information.
• There is a need to ensure that current Foreign Animal Disease Eradication Support (FADES) plans reflect the public health component of zoonotic disease response.
• Local public health capacity to respond to public health concerns around AI was limited. Additional support from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) may be required in future outbreaks, particularly with respect to the implementation of bio-safety protocols to protect persons working with infected animals.

Bio-security

• The role of effective bio-security as a means of preventing or minimizing the spread of disease was one of the key messages communicated throughout the forum.
• There are currently a wide range of on-farm bio-security measures in place.
• B.C. Poultry industry has initiated an Enhanced Bio-security Initiative that includes minimum bio-security standards and a producer self-assessment guide.
• The development and implementation of national bio-security standards and protocols is a priority for the poultry industry. It was also agreed that such standards should be developed by the industry and have the technical approval of the CFIA.
• More effective biosecurity compliance mechanisms may be required. Voluntary approaches may not be sufficient in the future and we need to explore potential incentives and/or penalties.
• The need for an integrated national AI surveillance and testing program that incorporates both the domestic poultry population and wild fowl was also discussed.

Enhanced Emergency Management

• Understanding existing emergency response plans and exercising them on a regular basis is important.
• The Foreign Animal Disease Eradication Support (FADES) plan was in place for B.C., however stakeholder understanding and acceptance of the plan was limited. Certain elements such as disposal strategies, inter-agency roles and responsibilities, communication and information sharing protocols and co-ordination with the affected industry could have been better planned and exercised.
• There is a need to revise the current B.C. FADES plan and to include consultation with other stakeholders such as the B.C. poultry industry and public health authorities.
• Participants stressed the importance of integrated emergency response plans and approaches, localized decision making and co-ordinated communications strategies.
• The Incident Command System (ICS) was discussed as the emergency management approach adopted by the provinces of B.C. and Ontario, and it was raised a model for the CFIA to consider.

Industry and Community Economic Recovery

• Significant economic losses were experienced by the B.C. poultry industry, allied trades and the local community as a result of the AI outbreak.
• Federal government support programs included compensation under the Health of Animals Act (HAA), the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization (CAIS) program and Employment Insurance (EI).
• The legitimate need for industry-managed business risk insurance plans was also recognized.
• Concerns were raised by industry regarding inequities in the current compensation policies, in particular the fact that compensation amounts may not reflect current market values or various types of farmed animals (i.e. specialty birds).
• There is a need for compensation issues to be addressed prior to an outbreak. In particular, industry stressed the importance of understanding compensation schedules and amounts prior to depopulation exercises.
• Future consultations with the poultry sector on issues around compensation will need to include stakeholders with non-traditional animals (i.e. specialty, layers, breeders).
• Compensation policies may need to be reviewed to support pre-emptive culls.

ACTION ITEMS AND FOLLOW-UP LEADS

The following provides a listing of the agreed-upon action items and follow-up leads resulting from discussions at the forum. It is expected that steps will be taken to address all of the identified action items by the end of December 2004. To ensure appropriate follow-up, each of the three conveners of the forum have designated an assigned representative to monitor progress against these recommendations.

#	Action Item	Lead
1	Establish protocols to ensure that foreign animal disease outbreaks are investigated with a team approach that encompasses both public health and veterinary health expertise.	CFIA/PHAC
2	Convene the first animal health/public health forum.	CFIA/PHAC
3	Industry led process to develop minimum national bio-security standards for the poultry industry and options for effective implementation.	Industry/AAFC
4	Implement a national AI survey for domestic poultry. Co-ordinate surveillance of wild fowl with the Canadian Wildlife Service.	CFIA/Canadian Wildlife Service
5	Examine the feasibility of establishing a pre-emptive cull program for suspect cases of AI to limit the potential spread of the disease.	CFIA/Poultry Industry
6	Update the current Foreign Animal Disease Eradication Support (FADES) plan for B.C, to incorporate lessons learned from AI. Updated FADES plans will also include roles and responsibilities for industry and public health authorities.	CFIA/B.C. MAFF
7	Update FADES agreements with all other provinces and territories. Develop a timetable to exercise all FADES agreements.	CFIA/Provinces and Territories
8	Develop a national disposal strategy for all livestock species.	CFIA/Livestock Industries
9	Maintain a periodic review process for the schedule of values included in the Compensation for Destroyed Animals Regulations.	CFIA
10	Conduct a review of compensation policies under the Health of Animals Act.	CFIA
11	Complete and adopt an Industry Emergency Response Plan.	National Poultry Industry Associations
12.	Develop and implement an Industry Risk Management Insurance Plan.	National Poultry Industry Associations

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