Hunters in Manitoba now have more options to submit samples for chronic wasting disease

A veterinarian and hunter welcomes the Manitoba government's decision to expand the ways fellow hunters can submit samples to test for chronic wasting disease.

The government announced in a Monday news release that hunters will be able to collect and submit testable tissues, rather than submitting the entire head of the deer, elk, moose or caribou they hunt, in an effort to curb longsample processing times.

Dr. Erika Anseeuw, a hunter and veterinarian at the Pembina Veterinary Hospital, says the expanded methods of testing aren't for everyone, as it requires specialized dissection of the animal to retrieve the brain stem, lymph nodes and lower jaw in some cases,but is still a step in the right direction.

"Certainlyfor some hunters that are quite familiar with anatomy and comfortable cutting up their animals, and many are, it saves the step for the province and hopefully those resources that saved can be directed to faster sample testing," she said in an interview Monday.

Mandatory sample submission periods have also been extended from two to seven days to allow hunters additional time to extract them.

Chronic wasting disease was first found in Manitoba in a mule deer near the Saskatchewan borderin October 2021.

Another case was announced a few weeks later, and in the winter, a deer cull was ordered to control the spread of the incurable, fatal disease. Chronic wasting disease belongs to the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy family and is similar to mad cow disease.

Expanding surveillance led to bottleneck

By law, hunters are required to send in samples from elk and deer from the province's mandatory surveillance zone, which spans southern Manitoba along the U.S. border, Riding Mountain National Park and portions of western Manitoba along the Saskatchewan border up to the Flin Flon area.

Although there is no evidence of transmission of thedisease to humans, Health Canada recommends not eating meat from an infected animal.

In 2022, the government expanditssurveillance and prevention program for chronic wasting disease, butthat created a bottleneck.

This year's hunting season saw a"significant" increasein biological sample submissions, the province says.

Before the disease was discovered in Manitoba, an average of 1,000 samples were submitted, compared to6,000 samples during the 2022-2023 season.

That meant processing times were lengthybetween 16 to 20 weeks, according to achronic wasting diseasepage on the province's website.

Anseeuwis hopeful the new submission optionwill address some of the roadblocks hunters have faced.

"This is a great step for getting samples submitted. However, there's no announcement yet about how quickly once the samples are received, they're expecting to have the results back," she said.

She also hopes the province will work with interest groups to ensure hunters understand exactly whichtissues to extract from the animal and how to do so safely.

A provincial government spokesperson says the department of Natural Resources and Northern Development will be providing educational information and engaging directly with hunters, key stakeholders and Indigenous communities before the next hunting season.