The latest case of chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer in Paradise Hill, Sask., is raising concerns among wildlife disease regulators.
Dr. Greg Douglas, disease control specialist with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, said 385 deer were destroyed after CWD was detected on the hunt farm in February.
Post-mortem tests found 83 positives in that herd, he said.
“It’s somewhat disconcerting to have it crop up again in the domestic sector,” Douglas said.
He said the number of CWD cases in farmed deer dropped off after 2003, but rose again by 2007.
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Douglas is surprised by how much faster it has moved through deer populations compared to elk.
Congregating animals increases the spread of the disease, which is carried in saliva, urine and feces.
He said there are many unknowns about CWD, including how long it resides in the environment and what parts of the body are still infected by the prion.
“That body of science is unwritten,” he said.
Douglas said government and the industry will initiate a review of CWD surveillance, control and research in the coming months.
CWD has been found in 53 herds of domestic deer in Canada.
