Chronic Wasting Disease

Chronic wasting disease is a disease of the brain affecting mule deer and white-tailed deer and elk. It is a reportable disease in Canada under the Health of Animals Act. While it is not the same as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), it belongs to a related group of diseases caused by abnormal proteins called prions that accumulate in the brain of an infected animal.

 

Through a voluntary surveillance program, one case of CWD was detected in an Alberta domestic elk in 2002. Since then, the Alberta government has implemented its Mandatory CWD Surveillance Program.

• The Alberta Mandatory CWD Surveillance Program demands that every domestic elk in Alberta over the age of 12 months be tested for CWD when it dies, regardless of the cause.

• This program is a more comprehensive monitoring system than the one used for Canada’s beef cattle.

• Since 2001 there have been more than 40,000 Alberta domestic elk tested with the full cooperation and support of the Alberta Elk Commission and the producers it represents. The infection rate of CWD amongst farm elk is 0.0045%. 

• There is no evidence to suggest that CWD can affect humans.

• Since 2001, the population of farmed elk in Alberta has dropped by over 80% and have lost over 50% of our farms and farmers. When one animal tests Non-negative for CWD the rest of the animals on the farm are dispensed depopulating the farm. The aftermath is  hundreds of healthy animals slaughtered and a tore up household for a disease that has NO affect on humans. Beef and sheep also have prion diseases that can be managed according to governing officials but not elk that only have an infection rate of 0.0045% with a 100% testing.