Chronic wasting disease spreading
Fatal malady among deer, elk widespread but more concentrated in southern Sask.
Chronic wasting disease in Saskatchewan shows no signs of slowing down, according to a report by the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC).
The report released in February says 349 positive cases were found in 2018. Between 1997 and 2017, 497 cases were found.
The disease was detected in 10 new wildlife management zones in eastern and south-central Saskatchewan, an increase from the three found in late 2017.
That brings the number of zones with positive testing results to 48 of the province’s 83. In southern Saskatchewan, where the disease is more concentrated, more than two-thirds of the management zones have infected populations.
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal, untreatable disease that affects the nervous systems of deer, elk and in rare cases, moose.
Caused by infectious proteins called prions, it is spread by animal-to-animal contact or contact with contaminated environments.
Since 1997, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment and the CWHC have been monitoring the incidence of the disease.
Iga Stasiak, a wildlife health specialist with the Ministry of Environment, said the numbers can be partially attributed to an increase in sample size.
“(It’s) definitely a large number of positive cases this year relative to what was detected over the last 20 years,” Stasiak said. “So part of the reason for that is the increased intensity in sampling, so the increased uptake. We’re also seeing the disease spreading.”
The data comes from heads submitted by hunters. In 2018, 2,070 heads were submitted; about 850 were submitted in 2017 and 397 in 2016.
The highest number of positive cases come from mule deer: 28.4 per cent tested positive across the province.
In the South Saskatchewan River valley, one of the core endemic areas for the disease, more than 40 per cent of the mule deer population is infected.
The other endemic areas are the Manitou Sand Hills near Lloydminster and the Love-nipawin area.
“We actually had entire hunting groups this year that went out and two or three individuals that had harvested mule deer harvested positive animals,” Stasiak said.
The river valley has had the highest increase in the past 20 years. Stasiak said a combination of factors is responsible for creating such concentrated disease hot spots.
“Part of it is it’s a perfect deer habitat, so there’s large densities of deer in that area,” Stasiak said. “Also, there’s baiting and feeding practices and artificial attractants on the landscape. So deer are attracted to grain piles, hay bales and actual bait and feed that’s put out by hunters, and that increases transmission.”
Although a human case has never been identified, hunters are cautioned against eating or distributing meat that has tested positive or not been tested. Hunters can submit fresh or frozen heads to a Ministry of Environment field office for testing.