Third Deer Found with Chronic Wasting Disease in British Columbia
A recent case of chronic wasting disease, an untreatable illness with the potential to devastate deer populations, has been detected in British Columbia.
The B.C. Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship announced that the infection was found in a white-tailed deer hunted in the Kootenay region last month, bringing the total confirmed cases in the province to three, following two cases in February.
Testing conducted by a Canadian Food Inspection Agency lab confirmed the latest infection on Wednesday.
According to the ministry, the new case was within two kilometers of one of the previous infections in a white-tailed deer near Cranbrook.
Chronic wasting disease targets deer, elk, moose, and caribou, affecting their central nervous system and leading to brain cell death.
The ministry emphasizes that there is no cure or vaccine for the disease, and it is always fatal.
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While there is no concrete evidence that the disease can be transmitted to humans, Health Canada advises against consuming meat from an infected animal as cooking cannot eliminate the abnormal protein that causes the disease.
In July, the B.C. government implemented mandatory testing for chronic wasting disease in deer, elk, and moose harvested in specified zones in the Kootenay region.
The two initial cases reported in B.C. involved a male mule deer taken down by a hunter and a female white-tailed deer involved in a road accident.
Additional measures were taken, including relocating urban deer from Cranbrook and Kimberley.
