Manitoba CWD

[450yukon]

Just received this news feed from MWF.

“Unfortunately, the Province has informed us that on Oct. 14, as part of the province’s wildlife health surveillance program, a male mule deer was observed to be unhealthy and was euthanized in western Manitoba, near Lake of the Prairies. Subsequent testing found the animal to have chronic wasting disease (CWD). This is the first time this disease has been found in Manitoba.

CWD is an incurable fatal disease that affects members of the deer family, including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, moose, and caribou. Other animals in the area may also have CWD, so to ensure the disease is not spread through the transport of a diseased carcass, Manitoba will be immediately implementing a ban on hunting deer, moose, caribou, and elk in the area. The boundaries of this area are currently being determined but will initially include at least a portion of Game Hunting Area (GHA) 22.　

 

[the spank]

They'll never stop the spread by banning hunting in the area. That's nothing but a misplaced knee-jerk reaction in my opinion. We have it here, supposedly it originated with some farmed deer in SK. Three years ago when I started hunting deer the two WMZ's in my local area (north of town and south of town) were mandatory testing zones. There is a drop off freezer placed in town at a local sporting goods retailer to put your harvested deer heads in for testing. Last year they removed the north WMZ from mandatory testing. To date the four deer we harvested the past two seasons tested negative even though rumors abound 80% of the deer are infected?
We have a lot of deer here and I've yet to see one that doesn't look healthy but a fellow I used to hunt with did have a buck one afternoon doing some real funky antics spinning in circles in front of his blind. He reported it to SERM(SK) as he lives and hunts there and was told if he saw it again to dispatch it and call them and they'd collect it. He never did see it again.
This year my wife and I drew our mule deer tags in the south WMZ which is mandatory testing. I saw 4 yesterday and all looked healthy. I wanted to take part in being harmful to one's health but both opportunities were not safe zones of fire in my books so I passed. You can keep your antlers from any bucks head you submit for testing before dropping it in a freezer. Pics are of a young buck whitetail(antlers removed) and an antlerless mule deer I dropped off for testing.

 

[rkr]

Welcome to the club. We've had this for a few years and it's almost everywhere now in SK.
Just test the head and you'll be fine.

 

[Ralph]

IIRC CWD came to Sk. in a truck. Elk imported from Montana??? Years ago by the government of the time for some stupid reason.

 

[Peecos]

The hunting ban area is the NW portion of area 22 from the Shellmouth dam north to #5hwy west of Roblin. Seems counter productive to ban hunting as it will only limit sampling unless they have some other shooters in mind for a cleanup. Shoot, test, don’t eat until you get results back. JMO

 

[scruffee]

Other animals in the area may also have CWD, so to ensure the disease is not spread through the transport of a diseased carcass, Manitoba will be immediately implementing a ban on hunting deer, moose, caribou, and elk in the area. The boundaries of this area are currently being determined but will initially include at least a portion of Game Hunting Area (GHA) 22.　

Well this narrows things down for me, I was heading out to 18 and 22 next week for whitetail... Implementing a ban is completely asinine and will accomplish nothing. There is already a mandatory CWD sampling for that GHA. The logical thing to do is continue testing and implement proper carcass disposal regulations...

 

[Hunter7]

The hunting ban area is the NW portion of area 22 from the Shellmouth dam north to #5hwy west of Roblin. Seems counter productive to ban hunting as it will only limit sampling unless they have some other shooters in mind for a cleanup. Shoot, test, don’t eat until you get results back. JMO

This area is quite close to where I hunt. As far as shoot, test and don’t eat until you get the results back well you might be waiting for a while. Several years ago I submitted a head and lung sample for TB testing. Within three days I had a message on my answering machine stating that they found some nodules in my sample and that they would be doing further testing and would be informing me of the results. In the meantime they said they are not advising to eat the meat but not advising to not eat the meat either but if I did eat any to make sure it is well cooked. Well I waited and waited and heard nothing from them. Finally about the beginning of March after still hearing nothing I decided to phone them. The guy from Manitoba Natural Resources said oh yeah, the meat tested negative, your ok to eat it. Well gee thanks very much for letting me know, the meat is almost all eaten already. As far as I am concerned their request for samples for testing is more for their benefit rather than for our safety. Very poor communication.

 

[bearkilr]

This area is quite close to where I hunt. As far as shoot, test and don’t eat until you get the results back well you might be waiting for a while. Several years ago I submitted a head and lung sample for TB testing. Within three days I had a message on my answering machine stating that they found some nodules in my sample and that they would be doing further testing and would be informing me of the results. In the meantime they said they are not advising to eat the meat but not advising to not eat the meat either but if I did eat any to make sure it is well cooked. Well I waited and waited and heard nothing from them. Finally about the beginning of March after still hearing nothing I decided to phone them. The guy from Manitoba Natural Resources said oh yeah, the meat tested negative, your ok to eat it. Well gee thanks very much for letting me know, the meat is almost all eaten already. As far as I am concerned their request for samples for testing is more for their benefit rather than for our safety. Very poor communication.

TB is a bacteria. It's fine to consume meat infected with TB as long as it's cooked well, 165F+ internal. CWD is a different story, it's a prion disease. Not much is known if it's transferable to humans, and heat doesn't prevent infection like with trichinosis and TB.

 

[medvedqc]

TB is a bacteria. It's fine to consume meat infected with TB as long as it's cooked well, 165F+ internal. CWD is a different story, it's a prion disease. Not much is known if it's transferable to humans, and heat doesn't prevent infection like with trichinosis and TB.

well the cow one was transmitted to humans ...

 

[HeadDamage]

CWD is not to be underestimated, I wouldn't eat a deer I knew was infected and I don't hunt zones that have know cases. I fear that I may not be hunting for too many more years in Alberta the way it keeps spreading.

 

[scruffee]

Best way to control CWD is through 100% testing and proper carcass/infected meat disposal.

At the end of the day, you can't monitor a herd for CWD if you don't have samples to test. How do you get samples? You have to kill deer! Knee jerking and shutting down hunting after ONE case is found is completely ridiculous.

For some reason, Saskatchewan is still far behind in CWD protocols. This year is the first year we have proper CWD disposal sites, there's THREE for the whole province and they're away from large centers. There is a lack of education on what we know about CWD and on how to avoid the spread.

 

[kiimosabe]

They make it sound as if they were out there actively looking for it by calling it a surveillance zone, I suspect its been in Manitoba for awhile. They had Mule Deer on a protected species list, so if you shot one you'd get charged. Not entirely sure why you'd want to protect a species that is migrating into the province from another province that is known for its CWD status. But oh well, yes very reactionary and contradictory to what other jurisdictions are doing, others are increasing opportunities for hunters in their CWD zones so they can get a broader sample size....

 

[Hunter7]

There are many mule deer in this area in Manitoba. I don’t know why they don’t allow us to take either whitetail or mule deer. Especially inlight of the fact that the first known case of CWD WAS found in a mule deer. The mule deer came in from Saskatchewan and they will continue to come in from there. If anything I would think they would encourage the harvest of mule deer in Manitoba if anything at least for testing samples to get a handle on the CWD issue.

 

[mbogo3]

Here in AB a buddy and his daughter turned in two mule deer heads last year and never heard back.WOT

 

[Peecos]

In the Assiniboine valley where the case was found, Mule deer are as Far East as Brandon. That’s basically all of GHA 22. I agree, they should be encouraging harvest of mule deer or best case offering up a free tag to support testing. I’m quite sure the government has different plans however.

 

[dead meat]

It's been in Sask. for many years now. Hauled at least 6 dead mule deer out of my feed stacks last winter, my zone is over 50% with CWD.

 

[the spank]

Filled one of my antlerless Mulie tags Saturday in a mandatory test zone. We processed all the meat ourselves, packaged it and labelled it then put it in a freezer of it's own. Afterward we cleaned all of our knives, hardware, cutting boards etc. first by leaving to soak in a mix of water and bleach then washed in a bath of hot soapy water.
I dropped the head off for sampling. Last one I did we had the results back in three weeks. A friend's son is a biologist, he told me the meat is 100% safe to eat even if positive provided you do not cut bone while processing and in particular the spine. He says it is carried down the spine but I'll have to research that....if it comes back positive we'll toss the meat. As per the recommendations of carcass disposal I returned all the parts to the kill site where the gut pile was located as per suggestion in the regulations booklet...

 

[Potashminer]

From back in the day when CWD first showed up where we hunted in Zone 46 in Saskatchewan, apparently the fluids are bad news - so tears, snot, saliva and other secretions - including spinal fluid - so likely would not want to be cutting into spine or to be separating off the hip ball joints - releasing that clear fluid as you do that. Think about that if you separate the head from the carcass. Maybe it was about then we started to completely fillet deers - we no longer saw across bones, do not package or freeze bones - just red meat.

That prion sounds freaky - is not a living thing, so can not kill it - boiling, cooking, sanitizing does nothing to it - it is apparently an altered or mutated component of a protein - has ability to cause other nearby proteins to also deform and mutate - and so on. Appears that it can exist as a viable agent in soils for many years - like 10 years? Montana pens (formerly held CWD infected elk) that were kept empty for 6 years ended up with infections as soon as otherwise healthy elk were let back in there. Variations exist for sheep (scrapies) - known to exist since 1700's, for cattle ("mad cow" disease), for humans (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease). I do not think there is any cure once infected - apparently 100% fatal. I do not think there is any documentation of transfer of one version to another species. But my information might be old and out-of-date...

 

[Potashminer]

Re-reading Post #17 - is curious that DNR back in the day warned about spinal fluid, then today requires the head to be submitted. Not real sure how to remove head from carcass without severing the spine? Even separating at the atlas bone joint cuts through the spinal cord and releases spinal fluid???

 

[450yukon]

Now this makes a little more sense.
CWD SHORT-TERM MANAGEMENT RESPONSE

The Manitoba government has circulated details pertaining to their strategy to eradicate Chronic Wasting Disease (CW) found within Game Hunting Area (GHA) 22. CWD is an extremely infectious disease that if left unchecked, infection rates will rise and have negative impacts on local Cervid populations, increasing the probability of CWD spreading to other areas. The need to reduce local deer populations in GHA 22 is the unfortunate reality related to CWD management. The province hopes this short-term management response will lead to healthy deer-family populations that can thrive.

Local participation needed in CWD management

The province is asking for participation from local landowners and Indigenous communities who actively hunt in these areas. Participation will be critical as we move forward to protect deer, elk, moose, and caribou populations in Manitoba. Local knowledge will contribute greatly to CWD management actions that aim to understand disease prevalence, contain, and hopefully eradicate the disease from the area.

Details about the local community deer hunting opportunity

The local community deer hunting opportunity is planned to take place between November 26 – December 12th and will provide separate permits for those eligible to harvest up to three (3) white-tailed deer, up to three (3) mule deer, or both, from within the temporary CWD containment zone within GHA 22. There are numerous requirements to follow during the hunt, and to be entitled to a permit to hunt during this opportunity, individuals and their family members must own land within the temporary CWD containment zone or be members of a local Indigenous community.

For more information about CWD in Manitoba visit www.manitoba.ca/CWD