BC Wildlife Biologists are calling on hunters near the border of Alberta to help monitor and prevent chronic wasting disease from entering BC.
Kate Nelson, Wildlife health Biologist with the BC wildlife health program explains the disease “affects members of the deer family or cervids so that includes deer,elk, and moose. It’s caused by an abnormal protein called a prion that targets the central nervous system.”
It is always fatal and was recently discovered in a deer 30km southeast of Edmonton – the farthest west ever to date.
Nelson says the disease is transmitted through infected saliva, urine, feces and even water and soil with signs of infection in deer including weight loss, poor coordination, stumbling and trembling.
The disease was first identified in 1967 in a closed herd of captive mule deer in northeastern Colorado and has since jumped to free range populations.
The BC wildlife health program is asking hunters to bring deer, moose and elk heads to select locations for testing. Meanwhile, anyone encountering a sick or dead dear should report it to the provincial wildlife health program.
Nelson says there is no indication that Chronic Wasting Disease can be transferred to humans.
Anyone who comes across a sick or dead deer can report it to [email protected]
w/ files from Tyler Dietrich MY CARIBOO NOW
