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The Ministère encourages hunters to contribute to the surveillance of chronic wasting disease of cervids

QUÉBEC, Sept. 15, 2025 /CNW/ – The ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs is calling on hunters to voluntarily continue their contribution to the surveillance of chronic wasting disease (CWD) of cervids during the 2025 hunting season. After seven years of surveillance around the cervid farm where the disease was detected in 2018, the risk of finding infected cervids is now low, but CWD could still circulate among wild animals without being detected. Indeed, when few individuals are affected, the analysis of a large number of deer is required to enable detection of the disease. The contribution of hunters therefore remains essential to continue prevention efforts.

How to participate in sample collection

Hunters who harvest a white-tailed deer over 12 months old within a 45 km radius of the cervid farm infected in 2018 are strongly encouraged to have their game analyzed to detect CWD. Hunters can contribute to surveillance in two ways:

  • By dropping off the head of their game at a butcher shop participating in the CWD surveillance program, as well as at certain offices of the Ministère. Most butcher shops located in the area where the disease was detected are part of the program. Several butcher shops accept heads even if the hunter is not a customer.
  • By contacting the Ministère at 581-994-2874 if they are unable to go to one of these locations.

Hunters must have their hunting licence or transportation tag with them when dropping off the head. Heads with the skull cap removed may still be submitted, since the structures to be analyzed are located at the base of the jaw.

CWD surveillance report for 2024

Thanks to the collaboration of hunters and citizens, the disease does not seem to have succeeded in becoming established in Québec. The efforts of everyone involved have made Québec one of the few places in North America where the disease has been detected in an enclosure, but not in the surrounding wildlife.

In 2024, 187 white-tailed deer harvested near the cervid farm infected in 2018 were analyzed. No positive cases were detected, but only 26% of the harvested deer were analyzed, compared to 98% from 2018 to 2023, when sampling was mandatory. Elsewhere in Québec, 4,712 white-tailed deer, 12 moose and 4 caribou were also analyzed. All results came back negative.

The Ministère thanks the network of 70 participating butcher shops and encourages hunters to practice their activity with civility and in compliance with safety rules and regulations.

Highlights:

  • CWD is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system that is always fatal for infected animals. It affects cervids, including white-tailed deer and moose, which are the main big game species hunted in Québec.
  • Actively engaged in the fight against this disease, the Gouvernement du Québec has set up a surveillance network for wild animals.
  • No cases of CWD have been detected in the wild cervids analyzed to date.
  • As a preventive measure, antlerless deer licences were again issued this year in the enhanced surveillance area. This measure aims to maintain a low density of deer in the area to limit the transmission of the disease in the event that an infected animal escaped detection.
  • To date, CWD is not considered a disease transmissible to humans. However, the Government of Canada recommends not consuming or using the tissues of an infected animal.

Related links:

Source and information:

Media Relations

Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs

relations.medias@environnement.gouv.qc.ca

Tel. : 418 521-3991

SOURCE Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs

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