Hunters in B.C. and especially in the Okanagan are asked to submit deer samples after a case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) is suspected in Enderby.<\/p>\n
The provincial government reported the suspected case Monday, Nov. 24 in a deer harvested near Enderby. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has not confirmed that the sample is positive.<\/p>\n
The B.C. Wildlife Federation (BCWF) is now asking hunters to submit samples from any deer they harvest to a provincial drop-off location. Sample submissions are currently mandatory in management units in the Kootenays.<\/p>\n
“It’s really important that hunters continue to hunt and to submit heads for testing, even outside the mandatory submission zone in the Kootenays,” said BCWF executive director Jesse Zeman. “The more data we collect the better we can manage the situation.”<\/p>\n
Consult the provincial government’s surveillance web page for sampling instructions and drop off locations.<\/p>\n
CWD affects cervids, including deer, moose, elk, and caribou.<\/p>\n
Officials have been watching closely in the high-risk wildlife management areas of southeastern British Columbia adjacent to existing outbreaks in Alberta, Montana and Idaho.<\/p>\n
The disease is 100 per cent fatal, with no known treatment. It is not known to affect humans or non-cervid livestock.<\/p>\n
CWD is a disease of the central nervous system, caused by infectious agents called prions. As the prions accumulate, they cause cell death in the brain and neurological disease, which is 100-per-cent fatal. Prions also accumulate in other tissues and may be shed by the infected animal into water or on plants and bedding through saliva, urine and feces.<\/p>\n
BCWF hosts a webinar on CWD Dec 3 at 7 p.m. with Cait Nelson, Wildlife Health Biologist at the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, on what we are learning and how we are responding together.<\/p>\n
Cait will walk through the most recent surveillance results, what they mean for local deer populations, and how the upcoming Cranbrook hunt supports ongoing monitoring and management.<\/p>\n