EDMONTON – Groups that represent hunters and conservationists want the federal government to do more to fight a fatal animal disease that is spreading in the wild. Chronic wasting disease, known as CWD, is affecting wild deer and elk in parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The contagious disease, which is caused by abnormal proteins called prions and is similar to mad cow disease, was linked to commercial game farms years ago.
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The Alberta Fish and Game Association and the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation say they want a complete review of how Ottawa is dealing with CWD and policies that allow game farms.
The groups want leaders of federal political parties to say where they stand on these issues.
David Pezderic, a federation spokesman, says CWD could potentially lead to trade restrictions on agricultural exports.
“We want to create enough of a concern that the politicians are prepared to pay attention to a looming disease threat,” he said Monday from his farm near Saskatoon.
There were 86 new cases of CWD in wildlife reported in Alberta last year, up from 49 in 2013.
This fall the province added five new wildlife management areas where hunters must get any deer they kill tested for CWD.
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These areas that were once mainly along the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary now extend almost as far west as Calgary.
Experts say there is no scientific evidence to suggest that CWD can affect humans, but people have been cautioned to avoid meat infected by prions.
CWD has been found in animals on game farm herds in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Earlier this year the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it was developing voluntary rules with people who raise elk and deer on commercial farms to guard against animal diseases, including CWD.
The CFIA said a new biosecurity standard could take up to two years to develop.
The agency’s website says CWD testing is mandatory in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Yukon.
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