Government of Saskatchewan ministries, Crown corporations and organizations are implementing contingency plans to minimize the impacts of postal service disruption.
Les ministères, sociétés d’État et organismes du gouvernement de la Saskatchewan mettent en œuvre des plans d’urgence (en anglais) visant à réduire les répercussions de l’interruption du service des postes.
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The management of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a joint responsibility of federal, provincial and territorial governments, farmed cervid producers, hunters, agricultural producers and others.
CWD is a federally reportable disease in farmed cervids. On April 1, 2018, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) changed their CWD control program so that only game farms that are on a national voluntary CWD program will be quarantined, depopulated and compensated. Check the CFIA's CWD webpage for more information.
The Ministry of Agriculture, in response to the federal program changes, has taken measures to ensure the province has the appropriate authorities to monitor and respond to suspected or confirmed cases of CWD in farmed cervids. As of November 15, 2019, CWD is listed as a reportable disease under The Animal Health Act and its Regulations.
This means:
In Saskatchewan, due to the concerns of the impact of CWD for wild cervids, a CWD in Wildlife Working Group was formed. It has representation from a number of stakeholders, including:
More information on CWD can be found in the Saskatchewan Hunters and Trappers Guide.
The Animal Production Regulations require all farmed cervid operations to be licensed by the Ministry of Agriculture. The regulations also require game farm operators to submit appropriate samples for CWD testing of all cervids 12 months of age or older that die, including slaughter animals. For slaughter animals, carcasses are not to be released until negative CWD results are received.
Contact your local Ministry of Environment field office if you see a wild deer, elk, moose or caribou that is sick or behaving abnormally. A conservation officer will humanely euthanize the animal and submit samples to test for CWD. This will provide information on where CWD is present in the province and what cervid types are affected, and ensure that a CWD-infected animal is removed from the environment.
Do not feed wild cervids, as this encourages these animals to gather and increases the spread of CWD.
Agricultural practices that encourage wild cervids to gather, such as at grain spill sites and hay bales, should be minimized or protected to help reduce the spread of CWD. Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation offers a wildlife damage compensation and prevention program.
Hunters are encouraged to test their harvested cervid such as deer, elk, moose and caribou for CWD. It is recommended to not eat or distribute for human consumption the meat or other parts from animals that have not been tested, or that are found to be CWD-infected.
The fresh or frozen head of the harvested cervid can be dropped off at a ministry field offices or a designated drop-off location. There will be no charge for the testing. If you would like to submit a head for CWD testing during the 2019-20 hunting season, get a unique CWD tracking number, using the new Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative/Government of Saskatchewan submission application. For a list of drop-off locations, more information about the disease, testing and maps visit the Ministry of Environment’s CWD information pages.
If a cervid is found positive for CWD, the meat and other parts should be double bagged and taken to an approved landfill to prevent consumption by animals and minimize environmental contamination with the CWD prion.
Hunters should take precautions when field dressing, transporting and processing harvested cervids. Precautions when field dressing include:
Hunters can help slow the spread of CWD by not introducing the disease to new areas of the province. Carcasses should be field dressed and deboned at the harvest location or, if dressing/deboning at another site, transported no more than 100 km.
If a carcass must be transported farther, all carcass waste should be double bagged and deposited at an approved landfill. For more information, contact your local Ministry of Environment office.
Further information for hunters on CWD:
Find out more information on the CWD surveillance program.
Operators of domestic cervid farms must follow the requirements of The Animal Production Regulations and the Cervid CWD Mandatory Surveillance Program by reporting and testing all cervids that die at 12 months of age or older, including for slaughter. Do not release meat or other parts until negative CWD test results are available. Follow the process for notifying the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Health Unit and submitting cervids for testing. The cost of CWD testing for farmed cervids is covered by the province.
CWD remains a federally reportable disease in Canada and all suspected cases are to be reported to a CFIA district veterinarian.
As of November 15, 2019, CWD is a provincially reportable animal disease in Saskatchewan. All suspect or confirmed cases of CWD are also to be reported to the office of the provincial Chief Veterinary Officer within 24 hours.
Other CWD prevention measures in farmed cervids include:
Recommendations on biosecurity measures can be found in the National Cervid On-Farm Biosecurity Standard.
Operators of these facilities should follow best practices for meat processors, which are available at Food Processing Facility Best Management Practices. Best practices include processing deer, elk, moose and caribou at the end of the day after processing other animals or foods, followed by effective cleaning and sanitizing of food contact surfaces such as counters and knives. Meat and other cervid parts from different hunters should not be combined unless the hunters are aware this is being done.
Taxidermists should also effectively clean and sanitize knives and utensils after working with cervids.
Waste from cervids should be properly contained and disposed of in an approved landfill or other acceptable method of disposal to minimize potential environmental contamination with the CWD prion. For more information on disposal, contact your local Ministry of Environment office.
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