Ministry investigating possible chronic wasting disease in North Okanagan deer

Investigators are looking into a possible case of chronic wasting disease in a deer that was hunted in the North Okanagan this fall.

The white-tailed deer was harvested east of Enderby and it could have chronic wasting disease, according to a press release from the Ministry of Water, Land and and Resource Stewardship, issued today, Nov. 24. 

Chronic wasting disease is an infectious and affects species in the deer family like elk, moose and caribou. It is 100 per cent fatal with no known treatment. 

The hunter who got the deer submitted a sample and it has been sent along to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for testing to confirm whether it has the disease. 

This would be the first case in the Okanagan, and the first in B.C. outside of the Kootenay region. 

B.C. has been trying to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease for the past 20 years. 

The first case in the province was last year. Since then there have been a total of six deer found to be infected in B.C.

B.C. has removed and tested urban deer in Cranbrook and Kimberly and instated mandatory testing for deer, elk and moose caught in the Kootenays. 

The province said it’s important for hunters to continue to send in samples from deer, elk and moose killed in B.C. so the government can track the disease. 

“It’s really important that hunters continue to hunt and to submit heads for testing, even outside the mandatory submission zone in the Kootenays,” B.C. Wildlife Federation Executive Director Jesse Zeman said in a press release. “The more data we collect the better we can manage the situation.”

There is no evidence that chronic wasting disease can be transmitted to humans, but Health Canada and the World Health Organization recommends that people don’t eat meat infected with the disease. 

The provincial government is working with First Nations and hunters to try to track and contain the disease. 

Click here for more information about chronic wasting disease.