B.C. to test for CWD

The government of British Columbia is working with the Tobacco Plains Indian Band to collect samples from deer to test for chronic wasting disease.

The samples will come from the Kootenay region, where two deer—a mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and a white-tailed deer (O. virginianus) tested positive for the fatal prion disease earlier this year.

The Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship is permitting the band to collect 20 mule deer and five white-tailed deer by the end of March in a 10-kilometer area surrounding the sites where the previous animals were found. Officials hope to see if more B.C. deer have the disease, which affects cervids and is always fatal.

Since the disease was discovered in the area, the province has restricted transportation of carcasses and required testing for any deer, moose (Alces alces), elk (Cervus canadensis) and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) killed on the road.

Read more from the Canadian Press.