Canada has its first case of chronic wasting disease, or CWD, in farmed
deer following confirmation of the infection in a white-tailed deer
north of Edmonton.
George Luterbach of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the animal
was one of 290 on the game farm.
“This animal was quite advanced in the disease and could have been
infected for a year,” he said.
The CWD was discovered Nov. 5 after the producer submitted its head for
mandatory testing upon its death. Similar CWD surveillance programs are
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Luterbach said this herd and a second 100-head herd, from where the
deer was purchased, have been quarantined.
CWD, a fatal brain disorder, has affected 41 herds of farmed elk, all
but one of them in Saskatchewan. It has also been found in four wild
deer in Saskatchewan, the most recent in a mule deer shot in the Swift
Current area last month.
In all previous cases, all animals believed to have been in contact
with the infected animals have been slaughtered. More than 8,000 elk
were killed.
Luterbach said investigations are continuing into the source of the
latest infection, which he said could have come from either of the two
farms.
His department is also examining sales of deer to 15 farms and has
placed a moratorium on the movement of farmed deer within Alberta until
Nov. 20.
Alberta has 174 game farms containing 13,000 deer.
Jason Marsland, president of the Alberta White-Tailed Deer Association,
expects some hardship for deer ranchers in the short term, but expected
lasting benefits from mandatory testing programs that ensure herd
health.
“We’ll prove the safety of our meat, prove our animals are quality
animals and disease free,” he said.
The surveillance program checks harvested deer heads for the disease,
tracks the source of infection and works to eradicate it.
Serge Buy of the Canadian Cervid Council was saddened to hear of the
finding in Canada, noting CWD has already been seen in farmed deer in
the United States. He called it a setback for deer farmers that could
temporarily affect their morale and markets.
“In the long term, it will prove to the world that certification and
surveillance programs work,” Buy said.
