The province is permitting a specialized hunt for deer specifically around Cranbrook in order to collect samples to test for chronic wasting disease (CWD), as the region has experienced a cluster of cases over the last year.
While deer hunting is currently out of season, the province is working with the East Kootenay Wildlife Association to connect with resident hunters in order to issue 50 special wildlife permits with the possibility of more in the future.
The permits only allow for harvesting deer within a specific area surrounding the City of Cranbrook, and not within the city limits.
Specific to urban deer, the province is looking to collect samples from 100 urban deer each within Cranbrook and Kimberley, however, officials are developing further actions which will be announced in the near future.
In early 2024, two samples collected from deer around Cranbrook tested positive for CWD 香蕉视频直播� the first cases of the disease in the province.
Based on samples submitted during the last hunting season, more CWD cases were identified from deer that were harvested around Cranbrook.
To date, only four cases have been identified, which indicates low disease prevalence, according to the province.
As part of a CWD surveillance program, the province has set up a management zone and introduced mandatory testing in various management units in the East Kootenay region. The province has also restricted transporting carcasses outside of the management zone and has also increased testing capacity at a lab in Abbotsford to speed up turnaround times.
CWD affects cervids, such as deer, moose, elk and caribou, and is a condition of the central nervous system caused by infectious agents called prions, which kill cells in the brain as they accumulate and lead to neurological disease.
Prions, a type of protein, also accumulate in other tissues and may be shed by the infected animal into water or on plants and bedding through saliva, urine and feces.
It is 100 per cent fatal to wildlife with no known treatment.
However it is not known to affect humans or livestock, although public health guidance recommends that animals with CWD should not be consumed.
