Officials from several federal agencies are reassuring the public about Canada’s animal biosecurity preparedness.

Witnesses from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the Canada Border Services Agency spoke to MPs’ concerns about livestock diseases at a committee meeting last week. 

Biosecurity preparedness has been a relevant issue recently, with rising concerns over African swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease, and highly pathogenic avian influenza, which saw 13 outbreaks in Quebec alone in April, and killed over 50 million farm birds in the U.S. in 2022.

Dr. Mary Jane Ireland, executive director of CFIA’s animal health directorate, told the Commons’ standing committee on agriculture and agri-food that the agency has ‘playbooks’ for every disease they are aware of, and that hazard-specific plans are updated as diseases evolve around the world.