The British Columbia government has announced that a deer sampled in the Okanagan region tested negative for chronic wasting disease, a concerning and fatal illness affecting wildlife such as deer, elk, moose, and caribou.
The Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship had initially raised concerns when a hunter’s sample from a white-tailed deer near Enderby showed a potential presence of the disease. If confirmed, it would have marked the first case outside the Kootenay area’s management zone.
Following thorough testing at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency reference laboratory, utilizing three different methods, the results came back negative for chronic wasting disease, providing a sigh of relief for wildlife officials and the public.
Despite this reassuring outcome, the ministry emphasized that chronic wasting disease remains a significant issue in British Columbia, with past cases limited to the Kootenay region. They underscored the importance of hunters in aiding surveillance efforts by submitting samples from harvested deer, elk, and moose across the province to track the spread and detect new cases promptly.