CWD Update from BC's Provincial Wildlife Health Biologist

[2chodi]

The BC Wildlife Health Program is happy to report that the Kootenay CWD samples from October and early November (479 samples) have all come back negative! These results are now posted on the website: http://www.gov.bc.ca/chronicwastingdisease

Mandatory submission of deer along the BC-Montana border is finished for the season. Over 1000 heads have now been submitted from the Kootenay Region. Submission numbers have also been good in the Peace Region and the Okanagan, with a number of new drop off locations established this season.

Thank you to the BCWF and clubs for donating and hosting freezers. We are grateful to all of the hunters that have participated and continue to support the Program. And thanks to all of our partners, regional wildlife staff and Conservation Officers for really stepping up to help in the delivery of enhanced surveillance this fall.

The hunting season is wrapping up, but CWD testing will continue through the winter with the last of the hunter samples, road kills and any cervid presenting with CWD-like symptoms. We will need more samples and will need to sustain this level of surveillance to maintain confidence in healthy wildlife populations - so let’s continue to be proactive and protect B.C.’s deer, elk, moose and caribou from CWD.

Lastly, I would like to acknowledge our regional CWD coordinators, Brian Paterson (Peace) and Jeff Berdusco (Kootenay) for their tremendous efforts and dedication to the Program! We could not do this without you!

[CranePete]

Finally, some good news. Thanks for sharing.

[338win mag]

Good to hear, thanks for the update!

[Jagermeister]

Thanks. Glad you'er staying on top of this and bringing it to us.
Again, Thanks.

[2chodi]

Just so you know, carcasses of deer harvested from southeastern AB (and likely other CWD known zones in AB) continue to make their way back to BC — last year there were at least 10 such deer that did test positive for CWD. Spread the word if you know of anyone who has been hunting deer, elk, or moose outside of the province as per the regulations:

"The B.C. Wildlife Health Program is focusing on preventing the disease from entering B.C. Hunters can help to reduce the risk by not using products containing materials such as urine from deer as urine can carry CWD prions, contaminate the environment and infect new animals. If you hunt deer, elk or moose in jurisdictions with CWD, please follow regulations and do not return with intact carcasses or tissues able to carry CWD prions to B.C. Make sure to process carcasses and leave high risk tissues behind (brain, spinal cord, lymph nodes and organs) where you harvested."

And

"It is prohibited to possess the head, hide, hoof, spinal column, internal organ or mammary gland of any animal of the family Cervidae (deer, elk, moose) that was killed outside British Columbia. Possession of an out-of-province Cervidae hide that has been treated in a manner that removes all tissue, or antlers or parts of skulls that have had all tissues removed is permitted."

[fuzzybiscuit]

That’s great news but it’s only a matter of time before it moves West with the amount of Mule Deer coming back as being positive in Southern Alberta. Both my buck and my partners buck came back positive this year. The good news for us is it only took 5 weeks to get results this year so we didn’t have to wait for months like previous years. Sucks to wait 3 years for a rifle draw, drive 2400 kilometres round trip, butcher at home 2 bucks, wait 5 weeks for results and then have something you cannot eat.

[2chodi]

Sucks to wait 3 years for a rifle draw, drive 2400 kilometres round trip, butcher at home 2 bucks, wait 5 weeks for results and then have something you cannot eat.

I am interested to know if AB told you not to eat the deer (it's certainly recommended not to by Canada and the US) and if AB gave you any info about CWD when you were notified of your successful hunt application?

[fuzzybiscuit]

It might be different for out of province hunters but being a resident of Alberta now there was no information on CWD given to me when I received the draw.

I was notified by phone of the positive result and advised not to eat it.

[rocksteady]

At my age, i have defended myself from all sorts of attackers with my immune system.. i would eat it... and suffer any potential side effects, besides having an empty belly...

Just about every other biogen can be dealt with by cooking (either high temp or sustained medium temp for a long period)...

I will take my chances...

But that is just me...

I smoked for over 30 years, drink semi regularly, dont exercise much, dont eat enuff veggies and fruit as suggested by the canada food guide and pick my nose too much.....

How is that different from a health wise, fitness vegan???

Guess what? We both end up in the same place.. a cold dark hole in the ground or cremated sitting in an urn on the mantle!!!!

I want to live my life as i want!!! Good or bad, its my life

[rocksteady]

Forgot to add...

Sometimes i drive over the posyed speed limit..

Sometimes i don't wear my seatbelt...
Sometimes don't wash my hands after peeing and then eating...

And when i am feeling like a rebel,....

I like to run with scissors!!!!!!

[Wild one]

rocksteady your a bada$$ lol

[Bugle M In]

Good news for now, but that wont be the case for long.
Considering how close some of the deer are to BC borders from both Alberta and Idaho, where they have CWD cases confirmed, its just
a matter of time, not maybe.

[rocksteady]

rocksteady your a bada$$ lol

Nope.. just a realist ...

Lot worse things i can do that will cut my time on mother earth short

Before the bottled water craze i would drink out of lakes, creeks, ponds,puddles, beaver sloughs if i was thirsty enuff.. still alive and hunting so my personal anecdotal evidence is that its not all that deadly

[Wild one]

Nope.. just a realist ...

Lot worse things i can do that will cut my time on mother earth short

Before the bottled water craze i would drink out of lakes, creeks, ponds,puddles, beaver sloughs if i was thirsty enuff.. still alive and hunting so my personal anecdotal evidence is that its not all that deadly

I may not be willing to eat a CWD deer but I get what your saying

guys like you are the ones that live to 100

[Bugle M In]

Nope.. just a realist ...

Lot worse things i can do that will cut my time on mother earth short

Before the bottled water craze i would drink out of lakes, creeks, ponds,puddles, beaver sloughs if i was thirsty enuff.. still alive and hunting so my personal anecdotal evidence is that its not all that deadly

Then you have the gift of a steel belted stomach.
For me, got that once and have never been the same since.
Roll of the dice, but some folks are just luckier then others.

CWD is not something I would want to risk, imo.
Granted, speaking to a vet who studied it, they said much of the problem is in the brain matter.
Don't think many of us eat that.
I will wait til there is a cure.

[rocksteady]

Forgot to add been chewing Cope since i was 13.. maybe thats the silver bullet :)

[fuzzybiscuit]

[QUOTE=rocksteady;2137716]I smoked for over 30 years, drink semi regularly, dont exercise much, dont eat enuff veggies and fruit as suggested by the canada food guide and pick my nose too much.....

But after you pick your nose do you eat it? Everyone draws the line somewhere. I draw it at eating Prinions that cannot be killed by cooking or freezing them.

[rocksteady]

But are the prions not only in the spinal fluid and brain? So if you butcher it (like the gutless method) should you not be fine?

[fuzzybiscuit]

But are the prions not only in the spinal fluid and brain? So if you butcher it (like the gutless method) should you not be fine?

Maybe...

If it was just me I might go ahead and take my chances but I wouldn’t risk my families health on it.

[RICKADY]

Rock we want you stay on here for a while,
put the sissors down,

[Bugle M In]

But are the prions not only in the spinal fluid and brain? So if you butcher it (like the gutless method) should you not be fine?

My understandings is yes, only in the spinal fluids or brain.
So, no more head shots or spine shots that may contaminate the other meat:p

But, this is assuming the disease is held in the Prions.
Nothing is 100% as to what the issue is that is causing CWD from my understanding.

[Walking Buffalo]

But are the prions not only in the spinal fluid and brain? So if you butcher it (like the gutless method) should you not be fine?

NO.

The prions exist throughout an infected animal.
They are found in higher concentrations in the nervous tissue/brain, which is why it is desired to dispose of these parts with greater caution.

Do you ever share any of your game?
Gonna share that CWD meat with the young ones?

[2chodi]

CWD is one of several types of Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). CWD has yet to be shown to transfer to humans. TSEs are thought to be 100% fatal. For example, Mad Cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)) is fatal in cattle and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in humans is usually fatal. It's up to you if you want to eat the meat of an infected deer or not, but at this time, both Canada and the US are recommending not to.

[Walking Buffalo]

Mad Cow (BSE) infected meat was promoted by government agencies as Safe for human consumption, until it was proven not to be.
Unfortunately the change in knowledge, attitude and formal position from governments came too late for many people.

[j270wsm]

A friend of mine was talking to the biologist for reg 4 sometime around the start of November. He was told there was around 140 heads that weren’t able to be tested....... Testing can’t be performed on anything younger than 1yr old.

[tyreguy]

I'm glad to see the conversation on CWD continuing and it should be front and center with everyone in BC.
The testing on border MU's will be our first line of defense / indicator and it it does show up a bigger sample will be done to figure out the extent. The next step would likely be a larger cull if they find more positive results in order to try and contain it.
Luckily we have no positive results but everyone has to be conscious of this when hunting in the possible infection areas

Younger animals don't usually test positive so i think that is why the previous poster mentioned the juvenile heads not tested. it generally shows in older mature animals.

Its a nervous system type disease and one of the symptoms is drooling (saliva), and the prion can live where the saliva has landed so imagine the effect with infected ungulates in a hay field and the sale of that hay......it could become a huge issue quickly so prevention is key for as long as we can.
Hunters are a great source of samples so our community is a big part of the prevention of CWD into BC and I took interest heavily this year as i hunt regions being monitored in Reg 4 and i harvested a mule buck about 10km from the Montana border. Initially i found the info rather sparse and the information from the Gov't biologist vague as they were unsure with what the process was going to be now that mandatory testing was implemented. Butchers didn't know what precautions they should take and carcass disposal prior to test results wasn't that informed.

Really good reading on this if you just google it on up or its on the BC Govt site.

This could be a bigger hit to our game inventory if we start seeing positive results, so hopefully everyone is careful if they go into positive areas (ie - Sask/Alta) and be the eyes and ears here in BC.

[Bugle M In]

^^^^^That s why Ted Nugent said it doesn't matter what we do, in regards to bait stations or winter feed programs.
Eventually deer have to mingle during mating, scenting etc which will easily pass it on.
I suppose feed and bait could contribute more, but disallowing it still want fix the problem are stop it from continuing.

[Walking Buffalo]

^^^^^That s why Ted Nugent said it doesn't matter what we do, in regards to bait stations or winter feed programs.
Eventually deer have to mingle during mating, scenting etc which will easily pass it on.
I suppose feed and bait could contribute more, but disallowing it still want fix the problem are stop it from continuing.

Proponents of baiting bans for disease Control aren't making claims that this action will fix the problem.
They do claim that it will redude the rate of spreading the disease.
We can't control all intimate contact between deer, nor should we, that in itself would be a death blow, but we can eliminate contact due to concentrating animals on a bait pile.
Eliminating baiting could be more effective than reducing population density in the effort to reduce the rate and range of infection.



Until a viable cure for CWD can be found, short term management is about control, reducing the spread of the disease.
Eliminating baiting of ungulates should be part of the CWD control measures.

[Bugle M In]

Proponents of baiting bans for disease Control aren't making claims that this action will fix the problem.
They do claim that it will redude the rate of spreading the disease.
We can't control all intimate contact between deer, nor should we, that in itself would be a death blow, but we can eliminate contact due to concentrating animals on a bait pile.
Eliminating baiting could be more effective than reducing population density in the effort to reduce the rate and range of infection.



Until a viable cure for CWD can be found, short term management is about control, reducing the spread of the disease.
Eliminating baiting of ungulates should be part of the CWD control measures.

Well, I understand the "reducing" the exposure philosophy, and it's reasonable.
But then again, we have done such a fantastic job of preserving/protecting winter range that we never needed winter feeding programs.
Oh wait!!…..we do, because in many places they cant get to any decent areas anymore to feed for the entire winter.

So, either we do or we don't, neither is a great option I suppose.
If it's coming, its coming.....and it will come.
Now, is a cure coming or at the least, a treatment???
That's the only thing that should be focused on, the rest is just useless in the end.

[oclarkii]

http://fwp.mt.gov/news/newsReleases/cwd/nr_0009.html

https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/montana-finds-first-wild-elk-cwd-case/article_14ff2733-b085-5c87-90c9-267ee6433bc0.html

http://fwp.mt.gov/fishAndWildlife/diseasesAndResearch/diseases/chronicWastingDisease/libbyManagementZone.html


Libby is damn close to BC - so is Troy. No positive results yet is great news but......

[Tripitaka]

Mad Cow (BSE) infected meat was promoted by government agencies as Safe for human consumption, until it was proven not to be.
Unfortunately the change in knowledge, attitude and formal position from governments came too late for many people.

Absolutely true. As a mid-life immigrant to Canada, I was born and lived in the UK until my early 40's. I was there through Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_spongiform_encephalopathy) (BSE) and it's linkage to Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creutzfeldt%E2%80%93Jakob_disease) (CJD); even now, I cannot donate blood or organs in Canada and never will be able to simply because I lived in the same country where the disease was present.

I too, will run with scissors. If it goes bad, it should be a quick death, unlike dementia.

[Walking Buffalo]

Well, I understand the "reducing" the exposure philosophy, and it's reasonable.
But then again, we have done such a fantastic job of preserving/protecting winter range that we never needed winter feeding programs.
Oh wait!!…..we do, because in many places they cant get to any decent areas anymore to feed for the entire winter.

So, either we do or we don't, neither is a great option I suppose.
If it's coming, its coming.....and it will come.
Now, is a cure coming or at the least, a treatment???
That's the only thing that should be focused on, the rest is just useless in the end.

I don't see how eliminating baiting is such a big deal when Wildlife health is at risk.
Why is eliminating baiting for the sake of Wildlife health not a great option?
Is it really that important to hunting that it should take precedence over wildlife health?

[Bugle M In]

I don't see how eliminating baiting is such a big deal when Wildlife health is at risk.
Why is eliminating baiting for the sake of Wildlife health not a great option?
Is it really that important to hunting that it should take precedence over wildlife health?
FYI, I don't bait nor do I use Cams etc.
Don't have time for it.
Does it makes sense to stop baiting as you say, yes, I suppose it does.
But, then again it is just another hunting regulation that will be entered to never be removed and in the end, the prevention of CWD
will not be stopped, it will still happen, so in the end, its just another useless Regulation and a total waste of time.
There's lots of that going on these days in BC, like saving the Selkirk Boo by killing off Moose etc.
Did it work....nope....ju8st wasted effort, time and especially money.

Like a lot of issues in BC, the "big ones", there is lots of talk but little push towards the Ministry to fix those.
Funding and preserving habitat (winter range) come to mind, that is "Really important"! and will make a difference down the road.
Trying to stop, reduce CWD is useless, because down the road, it will be a problem, no matter what.
Cure or Treatment should be the "Real agenda", that should be yelled into the Ministry's ear every day.
Whispering to them to ban bait is useless.

And because we have done such a great job in this province protecting/creating Winter habitat, I guess in preventing CWD, we don't need
"Winter Feeding Sites" I suppose.
Have to ban those too, if CWD is an issue and game like deer congregating.
Another Reg that will not work!.....period.

[tyreguy]

The topic of this thread "CWD Update from BC Gov't" which relates to cronic wasting and what hunters are doing in an effort to participate in the prevention or at least slow the spread of CWD into BC by understanding it and doing our part.
Don't hijack into a negative bash on whatever irks you, there's way to much of that garbage on here already.


FYI, I don't bait nor do I use Cams etc.
Don't have time for it.
Does it makes sense to stop baiting as you say, yes, I suppose it does.
But, then again it is just another hunting regulation that will be entered to never be removed and in the end, the prevention of CWD
will not be stopped, it will still happen, so in the end, its just another useless Regulation and a total waste of time.
There's lots of that going on these days in BC, like saving the Selkirk Boo by killing off Moose etc.
Did it work....nope....ju8st wasted effort, time and especially money.

Like a lot of issues in BC, the "big ones", there is lots of talk but little push towards the Ministry to fix those.
Funding and preserving habitat (winter range) come to mind, that is "Really important"! and will make a difference down the road.
Trying to stop, reduce CWD is useless, because down the road, it will be a problem, no matter what.
Cure or Treatment should be the "Real agenda", that should be yelled into the Ministry's ear every day.
Whispering to them to ban bait is useless.

And because we have done such a great job in this province protecting/creating Winter habitat, I guess in preventing CWD, we don't need
"Winter Feeding Sites" I suppose.
Have to ban those too, if CWD is an issue and game like deer congregating.
Another Reg that will not work!.....period.

[Bugle M In]

The topic of this thread "CWD Update from BC Gov't" which relates to cronic wasting and what hunters are doing in an effort to participate in the prevention or at least slow the spread of CWD into BC by understanding it and doing our part.
Don't hijack into a negative bash on whatever irks you, there's way to much of that garbage on here already.
Not trying to hijack.
Just not going to be fooled into playing God.
Way too much of that going on for years!

Besides, if you look at other threads on this, I have started some threads on CWD rto keep people informed.
TO PROTECT THE HUNTER.
The rest will happen as it happens.

[Bugle M In]

The only change that should be made is that all feed should be made and sold in BC, no imports.
(again, I have expressed that in other threads)

[Bugle M In]

My rant isn't based on emotion as it may look.
I have sat on the fence "neutral" about feed pit/cams etc and cwd.
And I know there are folks like Ourea who do it (and share their findings on hbc, just to remind some here).
And I have seen a lot of blowback towards such people at times, on the site and privately.
And I have the time to reflect, to think about it, and only then do I get really mad when I see a direction that is a useless endeavor.

Lets review this.
CWD is in Idaho, close to BC border and I suspect will also travel into Washington State.
So, there will be the potential of a CWD invasion from the south.
And There is CWD in Alberta, so an invasion from the east.

Now, I am not overly familiar with Idaho's landscape or Washington State, especially where it borders Idaho.
But, I have a pretty good idea about Alberta.
It's one big feed lot!!!

So, if we are going to ban cam feed sites as well as winter range feed sites etc.
Are we going to Restrict Ranchers form putting out Salt blocks?
Are we asking Ranchers with Horses to not feed with hay?
Are we asking farmers to not grow crops, especially those nearing winter etc, where deer etc will congregate during winter??

I am fairly certain Alberta wont be telling their ranchers anything, nor their crop producers.
And if the situation is similar in Idaho and Washington State, I doubt thy will either.

Better of building a high fence all the way down the Alberta/BC border and along the BC/USA border to keep infected deer out.
Both ways are just about as Practical, imo.
I just see more restrictions to something that cant be stopped.
Just like adding more restrictions to hunters while wolves down the last Boo or other ungulate.

As for the "Info" and what to do, where to get inspected and where it is being reported, how to dispose of.....Excellent!!

[Pauly]

Bugle m in I sent u a pm

[Bugle M In]

Folks, don't look at my posts as trying to hijack.
Like another member once told me, as I felt the same once with one of my threads I started:
By me replying, whether you agree or not, this thread always gos back two the top of the "100 chart".
So, if anyone was away for some time, they will click on the OP, reading Walking Buffs and be up to date.
Don't think there is much more one can add to the actual update????
So, why not talk about cwd and the new bait ban "proposal" and all the time keeping CWD front and center and at the top for now.