ANIMAL HEALTH SERVICES IN ARGENTINA

1. The National Animal Health and Agrifood Quality Service (SENASA)

Decree 1585/96 created the new SENASA (National Animal Health and Agrifood Quality Service) by merging the former SENASA (National Animal Health Service) and the IASCAV (Plant Health and Quality Argentine Institute). The new Agency is responsible for ensuring that all plant and animal products for human and animal consumption are safe, whether imported or produced in Argentina for home consumption or export. SENASA is responsible for implementing and enforcing the law in respect of human, animal and plant health.

The "new" SENASA has a President, an Executive Vice President and an Administration Council (FIGURE 1).

The SENASA Administration Council has a Chairman, an Executive Vice President and ten members who represent the farmers’ associations. These are the Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA), Confederaciones Rurales Argentina (CRA), the Federación Agraria Argentina (FAA), the Confederación Intercooperativa Agropecuaria Cooperativa Limitada (CONINAGRO). The beef, fisheries and other food industries are represented by the Coordinating Office of Food Industries (COPAL) and the Provinces.

SENASA is a decentralized body with economic and financial autonomy that reports to the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food (SAGPyA) of the Ministry of Economy and Public Works and Services.

It is responsible for enforcing the national animal health and animal and plant quality policies, and ensuring compliance with the current legal regulations. SENASA also has authority to control animal shipments within the country, imports and exports of animals, animal and plant products and by-products, agrifood products, pharmaceutical products used in veterinary medicine, agrochemicals and fertilizers.

The total number of Staff in the National Animal Health Field Service is 1,110 of which 342 are veterinarians (TABLE 1). However, the total SENASA staff complement is 2,993.

FIGURE 1: ORGANIZATIONAL CHART FOR SENASA

1.1 National Bureaus

The National Animal Health Bureau (DNSA) is responsible for prevention, control and eradication of animal diseases, and ensuring compliance with regulations. DNSA is responsible for suggesting, developing, and assessing eradication programs for infectious and parasitic animal diseases and others considered zoonoses; programming and implementing animal health campaigns at a community level; controlling hygiene and sanitation of vehicles that transport animals and determining the required facilities; coordinating the research on endemic diseases and reviewing the rules that regulate this research; controlling the hygiene and sanitary aspects of shipments of animals, the hygiene and sanitary aspects of semen and embryos during collection, transportation, marketing, and use, issuing the pertinent certificates and coordinating the research on exotic and other diseases not present in Argentina; and reviewing and publishing the rules for animal and public health controls in respect of animal disease

(*) Offices with non-SENASA staff that issue certificates.

Source: DNSA - May 1999 Report

The Laboratories and Technical Control Bureau (DILAB) is responsible for:

• Studying the technical characteristics of products, drugs, containers, checking the accuracy of labelling, information, and/or advertising used in veterinary medicine; testing animal products and by-products to identify contaminating and/or residual substances; microbiological and analytical testing of the technological, chemical and physical aspects of animal products.

• Testing the chemical composition, physical, chemical and physico-chemical parameters, and/or the identification of microorganisms and residue levels of chemical substances in drugs and other items used in animal health (vaccines, feed, tissues and fluids), and in animal products and by-products.

The National Agrifood Inspection Bureau is responsible for:

• Ensuring that all processing plants, fishing vessels, and/or warehouses that store animal products and by-products (edible or non-edible) comply with the hygiene and sanitary standards.

• Applying technical and administrative procedures to certify the origin, commercial and reproductive quality, zootechnical fitness, type and classification of farm products and by-products, and of the breeding animals of livestock and poultry species.

• Inspecting and certifying the health and quality of: plants and plant products and byproducts, inputs, food products, agrochemical and contaminating residues, and biological products that are for domestic consumption, imported, exported or in transit.

1.2Other organizations that provide veterinary services

In addition to the official services (National, Provincial and Municipal), Argentina’s animal health system includes the participation of Regional Animal Health Committees. These Committees were created in 1989 to work closely with SENASA on the eradication of foot and mouth disease (FMD).

The system is based on Regional Animal Health Committees that work closely with SENASA.

There are 349 Regional Committees that have the support of Technical Sub-committees. The members are mainly local veterinarians who work in the area and represent local institutions.

SENASA also has the support of technology generating bodies such as the National Agriculture and Technology Institute (INTA), the CONICET and other University research centers. These institutions also participate in the Animal Health Committees under the coordination of the Official Veterinary Service.

INTA is an autonomous organization of the SAGPyA that includes representatives of the productive, academic and scientific sectors. INTA has a staff of 157 professionals (most have a post-graduate Masters or PhD degree) who work in the field of Animal Health.

Provincial Animal Health Services report to the Livestock or other Bureaus, and they are responsible for the animal health problems in their area. In total there are 425 veterinary physicians and 403 technicians working in animal health.

Municipal Services employ 799 veterinary surgeons and food controls who mainly work in urban areas and develop preventive veterinary medicine against zoonoses in the localities. In some cases, they also participate in the Regional Animal Health Committees created by the FMD Eradication Programme.

Private veterinary surgeons work closely with livestock producers. They inform the farmers about the official animal health programme. This is important in regard to creating awareness about the clinical signs and importance of BSE and scrapie. Private veterinarians also participate in the National Epidemiological Surveillance System (SENASA Resolutions 234/96 and 685/96). In Argentina 1,549 private veterinary surgeons have been accredited to issue certificates for animal health for official programmes.

1.3 Training and continuing education courses on exotic diseases

SENASA continuously provides training to its staff and invites other agencies to participate. The training includes early detection mechanisms and actions required for the identification and protection against exotic diseases. INTA collaborates closely with SENASA in this area and has organized several annual courses with experts from Argentina and other countries. Technicians from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Unites States Department of Agriculture (APHIS-USDA), Universities of the United States, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and Interamerican Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in Argentina and abroad, have collaborated to develop these courses which give specific insight on TSE.

The University of Buenos Aires, in collaboration with professionals from SENASA and the INTA offers annual courses to their faculty members who, upon completion, graduate with the Master in Animal Health degree.

INTA professionals have received training in clinical, pathological and biochemical diagnosis of TSE at the Moredun Research Institute, Edinburgh, UK, at the Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Edinburgh, UK, the Veterinary School of Uppsala, Sweden, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Bethesda, USA, and at the Central Veterinary Laboratory, (now the Veterinary Laboratories Agency), Weybridge, UK.

1.4 General Legal Framework

The legal framework for SENASA actions is based on its law enforcement authority which, as an Agency of the Public Administration, respects personal rights but has authority to regulate the said rights to promote the general welfare. It is basically responsible for establishing the necessary rules to promote safe and healthy conditions, consequently it issues rules to safeguard and guarantee the public interest.

The main goal of the Animal Health Enforcement Authority is to protect animals from contagious diseases and enforce the necessary actions. This goal is not limited to animals, but extends to all assets that, because of their nature or purpose, are related to, or in contact with animals, including all the instruments used to produce, market and process farm products in any of its forms or types.

The Animal Health Law Enforcement Authority Law No. 3959 and its Regulatory Decree were issued for the above mentioned reasons and also because actions to protect animal health, to be effective, must be coordinated by a single body.

Pertinent Legislation

1.5 Disease reporting and detection

Diseases for which reporting is mandatory must be reported to the National Animal Health Service.

The system of Regional Animal Health Committees is an important source of information because its members (that include skilled vaccinators) visit all the cattle farms in the country at least twice a year. This is in addition to the official inspection system at the packing plants, before the shipment of herds and at livestock concentration markets.

The private veterinary surgeons that work in rural areas (5752) are required to report epizootic diseases to the Ministry of Agriculture (Animal Health Law Enforcement Authority Law No. 3959). As they also participate in the technical sub-committees of the Regional Animal Health Committees they are strongly motivated and support the national eradication programs.

INTA has a network of extension agencies in rural areas that work closely with the farmers, and as a result also receives updated information on the health status of the herds.

Private laboratories that have been accredited by SENASA are also required to immediately report suspect or confirmed epizootic diseases.

INTA also has a network of regional specialised veterinary diagnostic units (see fold out map No. 5). These specialised units are located in Castelar (Buenos Aires), Balcarce (Buenos Aires), Cerrillos (Salta), Bariloche (Río Negro), Mercedes (Corrientes), Rafaela (Santa Fe), Mercedes (San Luis), M. Juarez (Córdoba), and El Colorado (Chaco).

The laboratories have the necessary diagnostic capabilities for the animal disease problems encountered in their area.

These services are used by the private veterinarians as a source of information and for laboratory services.

This system has provided a characterization of the health status in the country and has allowed the identification of many diseases of unknown origin, such as: pulmonary adenomatosis in sheep in the Province of Salta, selenium deficiency in lambs in Patagonia, a fatal toxicosis, and a neurological disease caused by tremorgenic mycotoxins in Trelew.

INTA- specialised diagnostic units play an important role in training and informing official and private veterinary surgeons about diagnosis, prevention and eradication of disease.

1.6 Surveillance actions

The official animal health programmes, the controls for the shipment and slaughter of animals, and the routine management practices guarantee that the flocks are under observation and that the probability of detecting animal health risk situations including those caused by exotic disease, is very high.

DNSA and the SENASA Inspection Bureau are jointly responsible for the official inspection of live animals, which includes:

• Examination of imported animals placed in quarantine.

• Examination of sheep and goats at all fairs, auction and markets. In total, there are 767 authorized facilities of this type, and 18,852 animals were examined during 1998, 859,766 sheeps and 166,513 goats were inspected before slaughter during 1998.

• Inspection at fixed and mobile control points for animal shipments within and out of the country.

• Clinical examination of small ruminants when serum samples are taken for FMD testing. In 1996; 34,575 sheep and 6,408 goats were examined.

• Monitoring of imported breeding sheep and goats. Resolution No. 471/95, requires the identification, follow up and post mortem histopathological testing of the Central Nervous System, irrespective of the cause of death.

• Diagnosis, as required by the animal health programs (TABLE 2).

• Inspection and controls at insemination and embryo transfer centers. SENASA is the enforcement authority, as stated in Law No. 20425, that rules the use, transportation, storage, marketing, imports and exports of semen.

• Ante mortem inspection before slaughter of sheep and goats (Decree No. 4238/68) includes a minimum period of twelve hours before slaughter, animals are required to walk in order to detect downers and goat ataxia. Those affected by infectious and/or notifiable diseases are slaughtered at ad hoc facilities which are separate from the main kill floor. Necropsies are required for animals that die in transit and those slaughtered because the ante mortem inspection identified suspect symptoms. Between 1996 and 1998, an average of half million sheeps were examined per year. All SENASA accredited (licensed) abattoirs must have separate facilities as follows for:

• emergency slaughter;

• necropsy;

• storage and disposal of fallen stock and condemned materials.

Even with extensive production systems, farm employees and private veterinarians are in contact with the flock. This enables them to identify any behavioral abnormalities. Routine management practices include (TABLE 3):

• clinical examination of ewes and rams before service;

• shearing, and shearing around the eyes;

• lambing, ear-tagging, tail docking;

• treatment for parasites (internal = worming; external = dipping), vaccination;

• field visits (daily in Buenos Aires and Corrientes, every three days in Patagonia);

• slaughter on the farm;

• monitored grazing and night enclosures (in the northwestern region).

The specific epidemiological surveillance is based country-wide on the FMD monitoring plan. As most farms in the north of the country have some cattle that are subject to vaccination, most participate in the surveillance system. Serological samples are taken in sheep and goats and checked for sero-conversion to FMD virus antibody.

Vaccinators are important observers. They are trained to recognize unusual and exotic disease including BSE and scrapie and they are qualified informants of the veterinarians who coordinate the Plan and work closely with the local SENASA authority.

1.7 Control of external risks

Argentina has several points of entry, including 7 international airports, 12 seaports, 7 bridges and 26 border crossings (See fold out map No. 5).

The National Government has custody over the points of entry. The National Customs Bureau, the National Border Patrol, the Argentine Coast Guard, and SENASA are responsible for the controls. These Agencies work together to avoid illegal entries of products. As the main problem is drug trafficking, the system has been designed to be sufficiently sensitive to intercept and detect small quantities.

1.8 Sanitary emergency system

If an exotic or highly contagious disease enters the country, the existing sanitary plan guarantees the implementation of effective actions to prevent the spread of infections and ensure its elimination in the shortest possible time.

The functioning of the zoosanitary emergency system is governed by Resolution No. 357/96 issued by the former SENASA and enforced by the "New" SENASA.

The efficacy of the system and the political standing of the Argentine Government in emergency situations was demonstrated when sanitary slaughter was required at the time of a FMD outbreak (1993) and when the presence of pig carcases in garbage dumps was detected, the source contained, and destroyed and action taken to prevent recurrence.

Source: personal communication with regional contacts.

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