Bad news about Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) from Canada. Bob Weber from the Canadian News staff reports in Spreading wildlife disease threatens deer, elk and maybe humans, new research says:
The continuing spread of a fatal wildlife disease in Alberta and Saskatchewan has a federal agency recommending a deer cull across a wide swath of the Prairies.
And soon-to-be-published research on chronic wasting disease has raised new fears about whether the illness could infect humans.
“I would say this question was answered with 'yes,”' said Hermann Schaetzl, a veterinary scientist at the University of Calgary.
Schaetzl's work was discussed in a recent report from the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, which advises the federal government on agriculture policy. Earlier this month, the institute concluded that in addition to human health concerns, the disease's spread over the last decade threatens Western Canada's agriculture, wildlife and food security.“It's continuing to increase in its spread and the speed of its spread,” said Ted Bilyea, the institute's strategy officer.
Chronic wasting disease affects animals such as deer, caribou, moose and elk, attacking nervous systems with universally fatal results. Like mad cow disease or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, it is caused by prions - misshapen proteins that can persist in the environment for up to a decade, able to transfer their shape to healthy proteins.
It was first found in Canada in 1996. Since then, it has appeared in deer and elk in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Quebec.
In 2019, Alberta found 11 per cent of animals submitted by hunters tested positive, up from seven per cent in previous years. It was also found in moose for the first time.
Maps in the report show that in 2008 the disease was limited to isolated outbreaks in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Now, it's considered well-established throughout Alberta's southeast quarter and Saskatchewan's southern half. . . .
To keep tainted meat out of the food supply, Saskatchewan and Alberta require deer and elk farmers to test every animal that dies on their farms, including slaughtered animals. If the disease is found on an Alberta farm, the herd is depopulated and the farmer is prohibited from restocking with animals susceptible to it. . . .
Still, Bilyea warns chronic wasting disease threatens Alberta's wildlife. It's already shrinking Montana deer herds.
It also threatens hunters - especially those who depend on game to fill the freezer. The report warns of dire consequences if the disease gets into caribou, a threatened species in the mountains and a staple for many northern First Nations.
“The southern range (of caribou) is pretty much the northern range for our survey,” Bilyea said. “If (prions) pass through that, then we have a genuine food security problem for our northern people.”
The report's first recommendation is the creation of a deer-depopulated buffer zone to separate caribou range from infected animals.
“We don't have any buffer zone,” said Bilyea. “It's not a very pleasant idea, but this is not a very pleasant topic.”
Alberta has previously tried deer culls in an effort to keep the disease confined to Saskatchewan. But Lehman said it might be time to try again.
“It's worth considering,” he said. “I think it's justified.”
Chronic wasting disease also threatens the reputation of Canadian agriculture. . . .
Read the rest of the story at the Edmonton CTV News.
Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee chair Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, tweeted:
The Minnesota Board of Animal Health is a case study in regulatory capture. Co management with DNR of this potential public health crisis will fail. Contrast Covid response with this #CWD debacle🦌
— Rep. Rick Hansen (@reprickhansen) July 17, 2021
Related posts:
- Forum News Service: MN Deerhunters Association wants to end deer farming
- Just in: House DFL Lawmakers urge resignation of Minnesota Board of Animal Health President
- Star Tribune: Deer farming and "CWD-infested dump site on public land" in Beltrami County
- Are deer farmers posing against MN DNR rule pausing movement of captive whitetails?
- MN DNR temporarily bans movement of farmed whitetails in state to protect wild deer health
- 5 more MN deer farm herds exposed to CWD; Beltrami carcass dump site inquiry continues
- News release: U of M testing finds presence of CWD prions at Beltrami Co. carcass dump site
- BAH: Southern Minnesota CWD investigation identifies new infection in Beltrami County
- Concerned about CWD in MN deer? Learn about new research from MNPRO's Peter Larsen
- Some of the science at the center of Update on Chronic Wasting Disease Efforts hearing
- VIDEO: MNHouse passes bill for process to extend funding for ENRTF projects for one year
- Session Daily: Experts want to study how CWD flows in state's waterways
- Sen. Andrew Lang seems behind the curve on current funding & progress of CWD test research
- VIDEO: University of Minnesota scientists share CWD research, search for test with lawmakers
- Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund plan from U of M for CWD diagnostic test
- Peter Larsen slideshow: Development of Advanced Diagnostic Tests for CWD by U of M
Photo: A wild white-tailed buck.
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