Vermont: Officials Monitoring CWD Discovery in Quebec Province

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

MONTPELIER, VT -- Canadian officials confirmed on September 14 the first positive case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in a captive red deer herd in Quebec province. With the infected deer housed within 100 miles of the Vermont border, wildlife officials expressed concern for its proximity to the state and are carefully monitoring the potential for movement of deer across the border.

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department issued a reminder to hunters traveling outside Vermont to hunt--and now particularly to Quebec--that the regulation restricting the importation of deer and elk carcasses, which is designed to protect Vermont's wild deer from chronic wasting disease, remains in effect and will be fully enforced.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal disease of the brain and nervous system in deer and elk. Abnormal prion proteins produce lesions in the brain that cause disorientation and emaciation in conjunction with other abnormal behaviors. For the latest information on CWD, check these websites: www.vtfishandwildlife.co
www.cwd-info

Hunters are also reminded that it is illegal to use deer urine lures in Vermont. Urine lures were banned because of the potential for CWD prion proteins to be introduced to the environment through the bodily fluids of CWD-positive ungulates and then persist in the environment for extended periods of time.

Vermont rules on importing and possession of deer or elk from areas with chronic wasting disease (CWD) and captive hunt areas or farms:

It is illegal to import or possess deer or elk, or parts of deer or elk, from states and Canadian provinces that have had chronic wasting disease, or from captive hunt or farm facilities with the following exceptions:

• • Meat that is cut up, packaged and labeled with hunting license information and not mixed with other deer or elk during processing;
  • Meat that is boneless;
  • Hides or capes with no part of the head attached;
  • Clean skull-cap with antlers attached;
  • Antlers with no other meat or tissue attached;
  • Finished taxidermy heads;
  • Upper canine teeth with no tissue attached.

Vermont's CWD importation regulations apply to hunters bringing in deer or elk carcasses from the following states and provinces, which now includes Quebec province:

Alberta, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan,

Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New