The Ontario Animal Health Surveillance Network

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
and
Laboratory Services Division, University of Guelph

"Conducting surveillance as a partnership to improve animal and
related public health in Ontario."

Table of Contents

The Ontario Animal Health Surveillance Network

Core Managers & Key Contacts of the OAHSN

OAHSN External Links

The Ontario Animal Health Surveillance Network 

• Surveillance of animal health is important to support safe trade of livestock, animal products and foods of animal origin.

• Surveillance of animal health is also important to public health.

• Ontario has a network of professionals in veterinary science, animal health, food inspection and extension education. This infrastructure can be thought of as an Ontario Animal Health Surveillance Network (OAHSN).

• The mission of the OAHSN is to improve animal and related public health in Ontario, through animal health surveillance, using information from government, academia, industry and private organizations.

• The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and the University of Guelph provide core members to OAHSN. This core group has veterinary specialties in epidemiology, pathology, animal health, outbreak investigation, technology transfer, outreach, food inspection, and research. These core members maintain links to other disease surveillance networks within Ontario, in other provinces, at national and international levels. Core members co-ordinate surveillance functions - from encouraging veterinary observation, sample submissions to the laboratory and diagnosis, to data interpretation and follow-up actions.

• Objectives of the OAHSN core group include:

  1. Continuous improvement of animal health surveillance to help give people confidence in Ontario livestock, animal products and foods of animal origin;
  2. Refinement of an early warning system for trends of animal diseases and their determinants in Ontario;
  3. Improving methods to link animal health, food safety and public health information;
  4. Encourage, co-ordinate or conduct specific preventive, investigative, or corrective actions to enhance animal health, surveillance and related public health in Ontario.

Producers, buyers, processors and consumers can have confidence in the health and safety of Ontario livestock, animal products and foods of animal origin, partially due to the day-to-day efforts and continuous improvement of the broad OAHSN.

• For additional description of the surveillance objectives, veterinary infrastructure, communications infrastructure, animal health monitoring and meat inspection infrastructure, legal infrastructure, surveillance coverage of livestock populations, and next steps in continuous improvement of the OAHSN, please contact:
  Dr. Bruce McNab, as indicted the following list of managers and contacts of the OAHSN.

Core Managers and Key Contacts of the OAHSN

* Dr. Bruce McNab is the primary contact within OMAFRA for the OAHSN

OAHSN External Links

| Top of Page |