Local hunters this season will be required to submit deer, elk and moose for Chronic Wasting Disease testing.
“We’ve had testing for CWD in the region for a number of years including mandatory testing for deer for the past three years,” said wildlife health biologist Cait Nelson.
“We’re just expanding now that we know that disease is here. For hunters, we’re asking that they bring samples in on any deer, elk or moose that are harvested in our CWD management zone.”
This was sparked after two positive cases of CWD were found early this year near Cranbrook.
“We’ve had two cases so far detected, so we’re expanding our testing and our surveillance to get a better understanding of the scope of the outbreak.”
She said the province has upped the response to testing.
There is now a lab set up in Abbotsford, B.C.
“In previous years we really struggled with long delays for results because we were shipping samples to a lab in Saskatchewan so it was several months in some cases,” she added.
“Now with the lab in B.C. in Abbotsford, we’re shooting for a three-week turnaround on results.”
Testing can only be done on dead animals, as it requires brain and lymph node tissues.
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