Members of the WeCAHN expert networks include 4 beef cow-calf veterinary practitioners, 1 feedlot practitioner, laboratory diagnosticians, veterinary college researchers, provincial ministry staff including veterinary epidemiologists, and representatives from the Canadian Cow-Calf Surveillance Network (C3SN) and the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS) feedlot program.

Foot and Mouth Disease: Outbreak in Germany, and information for Canadian producers

Foot and Mouth Disease in Hungary 7th March 2025

Hungary reported an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in cattle 7th March 2025, making this the first occurrence of the disease since 1973 in the country.

More information here

CFIA: Foot and mouth disease (FMD)

Foot and mouth disease is a severe, highly communicable viral disease of cattle and swine, which also affects sheep, goats, deer and other cloven-hoofed ruminants (horses are not affected). Signs of the disease include fever and blister-like sores on the tongue and lips, in the mouth, on the teats and between the hooves; many affected animals recover, but are left weakened and debilitated from FMD.

In Canada, FMD is a reportable disease under the Health of Animals Act. All suspected cases must be reported to the CFIA.

Learn more here

Overview of foot and mouth disease

The Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) provides an overview of foot and mouth disease, including clinical signs and diagnosis, transmission, and prevention strategies.

Learn more here

Overview of the situation in Germany

The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) provides updates on Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) cases in Germany through its online dashboard.

Visit the WOAH dashboard

Situation report

This preliminary outbreak assessment provides an update on the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in Germany, including details on the response measures, trade implications, and potential risks for the UK.

View the full report

WeCAHN Podcast: Foreign animal disease planning and prevention for cattle

Dr. Karin Orsel, a professor in epidemiology and infectious diseases from the University of Calgary, has some up close and personal experience with the impacts of bovine infectious disease outbreaks for some diseases of cattle that currently don’t exist in Canada. These foreign animal diseases, such as foot and mouth disease, are kept out of Canada only by the strength of our farm biosecurity and through the ongoing monitoring and reporting of any signs of concern to veterinary regulators for further investigation. Her experiences highlight the importance of vigilance and traceability in the cattle sector to ensure the health of our cattle and the security of our food systems.

Listen to this episode

WeCAHN Podcast: Outbreak supports network

Dr. Betty Althouse joins us to discuss a new Outbreak Support Network, funded by CWSHIN and working in collaboration with WeCAHN. This network is tasked with helping to ensure clear communications and efficient allocation of resources between producers, veterinarians and regulatory authorities in future disease incidents.

Listen to this episode

Spring 2025: Calving Season Information

Colostrum management for beef calves podcast

Dr. Claire Windeyer, veterinarian and associate professor in the department of production animal health at the University of Calgary, shares evidenced-based information about managing colostrum for beef calves. This video was produced with the support of BCRC, the University of Calgary, and Ag for Life. 

LINK

Zoonotic disease of cattle podcast

Dr. Sylvia Checkley, veterinarian, epidemiologist and associate professor in ecosystem and public health at the University of Calgary, discusses the diseases of cattle that can be transmitted to people (zoonotic diseases). These should be on the radar for anyone working regularly with cattle or calves - producers and veterinarians alike. This podcast was produced by WeCAHN. 

LINK

Beef cow-calf vaccination planning podcast

Dr. Joyce Van Donkersgoed, a beef veterinarian and epidemiologist, shares recent results from producer and veterinarian surveys regarding beef cattle vaccination. She also provides a number of beef health vaccination planning resources and decision-making tools developed by a research team of cattle experts to support the valid veterinary-client-patient relationship. This podcast was produced by WeCAHN. 

LINK

Zoonosis risks and calving season

In the heat of the moment it's easy to forget the potential human risks around helping with lambing calving. Intervening in a ruminant (cattle/sheep/goat) birthing may mean you are unknowingly exposed to animal pathogens which can produce life-changing human infections, such as Coxeilla burnetii, the bacterium causing Q fever. WeCAHN has information to help you protect yourself and family members from zoonotic diseases.

Zoonotic disease of cattle podcast

Dr. Sylvia Checkley, veterinarian, epidemiologist and associate professor in ecosystem and public health at the University of Calgary, discusses the diseases of cattle that can be transmitted to people (zoonotic diseases). These should be on the radar for anyone working regularly with cattle or calves - producers and veterinarians alike. This podcast was produced by WeCAHN. 

LINK

1. 2nd May 2024: Updates on H5N1 beef safety studies: "USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing results from its testing of retail ground beef. FSIS collected 30 samples of ground beef from retail outlets in the states with dairy cattle herds that had tested positive for the H5N1 influenza virus at the time of sample collection. The samples were sent to APHIS’ National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) for PCR testing. On May 1, NVSL reported that all samples tested negative for H5N1. These results reaffirm that the meat supply is safe." LINK

2. BCRC Vaccine Project

 

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! A team of experts including beef veterinarians, producers, extension workers, researchers, and veterinary pharmaceutical company representatives drafted guidelines for vaccine use in western Canadian beef cow-calf herds, as well as vaccine information including videos, podcsts, webinars, infographics, and factsheets. READ MORE

 

Every three months WeCAHN surveys network veterinarians across western Canada to get timely actionable information regarding animal health events in the beef, dairy, small ruminant, and poultry sectors.

Highlights of each veterinary quarterly survey, for each network, are available at:

WeCAHN Clinical Impressions Survey Dashboard

Following are collections of documents from the WeCAHN information library in the areas of beef emerging issues, beef infographics and short summaries, and international beef surveillance and research.

Visitors using older browsers please note that for each of the following graphics below, hovering underneath the black font text will identify the area (“READ MORE”) to click on, to access the linked web pages.