MANITOULIN—The news is good from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF); samples taken of deer taken during last fall’s deer hunt season show that there is no Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) on Manitoulin or the North Shore-Sudbury district area.
Larissa Nituch, senior wildlife research technician with the Wildlife Research and Monitoring Section of the MNRF in Peterborough told the Recorder this past Monday, “the results are in for the CWD sampling and they were all negative. This is very good news.”
Ms. Nituch explained, “a total of 475 samples were taken (in Wildlife Management Units 36, 37, 43A, 43B, 44 and 45-Manitoulin and the North Shore). For Manitoulin Island we had a tech station based at the Espanola Mall, at Bridal Veil Esso in Kagawong and at Manitoulin Streams Improvement Association office, in Sudbury and a bit on North Shore and St. Joseph’s Island where samples were taken of (harvested) deer heads.”
“The majority of the samples came from Manitoulin Island,” stated Ms. Nituch. She noted, “our crews go around canvassing hunters, and there were lots of deer heads go through the tech station in Espanola.”
The deer heads were placed into bags, labeled and placed into a freezer which will be picked up and sent to Guelph for sampling for CWD.
The last time the CWD program was last held in the area was in 2008.
CWD is a fatal brain disease of white-tailed deer, elk and mule deer. It has not been found in Ontario but it is present in deer and elk in Alberta, Saskatchewan and in several US states. It has also been found in moose.
CWD is thought to be spread by close contact between animals, states an information sheet from the MNRF. It usually takes months to years from when an animal is infected to when it starts to show symptoms. Symptoms include poor body condition, tremors, stumbling, increased salivation, difficulty swallowing and excessive thirst or urination.
The CWD results will be posted online so hunters can find out the results. For more information hunters can visit, www.ontario.ca/CWD.
“We do this type of testing every year in different locations in the province, using a model looking at where the highest risk for CWD might be,” said Ms. Nituch. She pointed out Ontario does not have CWD but all five states surrounding the province have confirmed CWD. “We’ve (Ontario) been pretty lucky so far.”
“Yes, we will continue to do the CWD sampling next year. It will take place in a different area, depending on what the (MNRF) model spits out,” added Ms. Nituch.
