A hunter-harvested mule deer in the Hog Heaven Management Zone of Montana’s Flathead Indian Reservation was confirmed positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD) on January 6, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) Division of Fish, Wildlife, and Recreation and Conservation (DFWRC) announced yesterday.
The reservation is located in the western part of the state on the Flathead River.
“The CSKT Wildlife Program is implementing the initial response protocol from the Tribe’s CWD Surveillance and Management Plan,” the CSKT news release said. The response will include the collection of samples from 150 mule deer harvested from Hog Heaven and Irvine herds to determine CWD prevalence.
The CSKT Wildlife Program is implementing the initial response protocol from the Tribe’s CWD Surveillance and Management Plan.
“It is extremely important for the health of our Tribal people and our big game herds that any deer, elk or moose harvested from this area is tested for Chronic Wasting Disease before consumption,” CSKT said. “There currently no vaccine for CWD, and if it were to spread to humans it would likely be through consuming infected meat.”
CDC advises against eating meat from infected animals
CWD is a fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by infectious misfolded proteins called prions, which spread among cervids such as deer, elk, and moose and through environmental contamination.
The disease isn’t known to infect people, but experts fear it could cause illness similar to the prion disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy (“mad cow” disease). The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn against eating meat from infected animals.
