Uh-oh – The mad cow disease of the deer has appeared in Quebec

From N.H. Fish & Game: A deer from a captive establishment in the Laurentians region of Quebec (north of Montreal) has recently been tested positive for chronic debilitating disease (CDD). This is the first confirmed case of the disease in the province. As a result, Quebec is now legally classified as a CDM-bearing territory and whole carcasses of deer (members of the deer family, including moose, deer, elk and caribou, and any species deer in captivity) transported to New Hampshire.

This finding represents the closest confirmed case of CWD at the New Hampshire border to date and poses a much greater threat to the state's deer and moose populations than previous cases of the disease elsewhere in the province. North America.

Hunters in New Hampshire making trips to jurisdictions where MDC is positive (listed below) must closely follow mandatory regulations to bring home any deer carcasses, including deer, moose , elk or caribou. You can legally bring ONLY boneless meat, woods, canines, skins or cloaks with no attached head parts, and finished taxidermy mounts. Wood attached to skull caps or canines must have all soft tissue removed.

To date, cervid encephalopathy has been detected in wild or captive cervids in 25 states and 3 Canadian provinces. These are the states of Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec. The most recent list of positive jurisdictions for the MOC can be found on the Fish and Game Department's website at www.huntnh.com/wildlife/cwd/facts.html.

A national effort is underway to prevent the spread of the disease. This effort includes collecting annual deer tissue samples as part of ongoing monitoring and surveillance efforts and limiting the transport and spread of potentially infected animals, carcasses, tissues and body fluids. The circulation of cervids in captivity remains the main threat in the spread of the disease. However, transporting high risk deer parts (brain, spinal cord, lymph nodes) across state lines can also play an important role, as can the use of natural lures based on 39; urine. Several states and Canadian provinces have already banned the use and possession of natural lures based on urine because of the possibility of disease transmission. There are a number of synthetic lures on the market that do not pose a risk of spreading the disease and can be used as an alternative to natural urine.

During the deer hunting season, the New Hampshire Fish and Game, with significant support from the US Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services located in Concord, collects heads and extracts hunted deer samples. As a result of these efforts, 6,260 deer have been tested in New Hampshire since testing began in 2002. To date, no samples of the disease have been found to be positive.

For more information on CWD, its cause, its spread, and New Hampshire's monitoring efforts, visit the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department website at www.huntnh.com/wildlife/cwd.