A second herd of farmed white-tailed deer will be destroyed north of Edmonton.
George Luterbach of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the decision to kill the 95 animals was made based on their close relationship to a nearby herd. That herd included Canada’s first known case of CWD in farmed deer and was found last fall.
That 100-head herd and its trace outs were destroyed and tested, which led to the agency’s decision to eliminate the second herd. There are no confirmed cases reported in this second herd, said Luterbach.
CWD, a fatal brain disorder, has affected 40 herds of farmed elk in Saskatchewan and one in Alberta. It has also been found in wild deer in Saskatchewan.
Luterbach noted there has not been a case of CWD in farmed elk in Saskatchewan for more than a year and no cases have been found in wild animals in Alberta.
