Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
MONTREAL – Officials in Quebec are banking on a massive cull of the province’s deer population to help prevent the spread of a fatal disease after its first-ever case was detected on a game farm north of Montreal.
Quebec’s Wildlife Department confirmed earlier this month that chronic wasting disease was detected in a farm-raised animal that was sent to slaughter in late August.
The disease is a fatal infection of the central nervous system in deer, elk, reindeer and moose, and is similar to mad cow disease in cattle.
While it can go undetected for years, the condition eventually causes poor health, behavioural changes, disorientation and death.
The recent discovery was the first positive case in more than 22,000 samples that have been tested in the province.
The news has raised alarm bells among government officials, who have banned hunting, trapping and off-road activities within a 400-kilometre radius of the farm, which includes parts of the Laurentians and Outaouais regions north and west of Montreal.
