A fourth case of fatal chronic wasting disease has been found in a white-tailed deer in British Columbia's Kootenay region.
The provincial Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship says federal inspectors confirmed the deer that was harvested in October is another in a cluster of cases found near Cranbrook.
A statement from the ministry says the first two cases in B.C. were confirmed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in January and the third was announced last month.
Wasting disease affects deer, elk, moose and caribou, attacking their central nervous system and causes cell death in the brain.
The ministry says more than 3,000 samples have been collected from the Kootenay region with only four cases of wasting disease, indicating "a low disease prevalence."
The statement says there is no direct evidence that the disease can be transmitted to humans and there have been no reports of human cases, but Health Canada recommends that people not eat meat of an infected animal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024
Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press
