FWP sets meeting in Chester to discuss CWD hunt

Staff and wire report

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks announced Tuesday that it will hold a meeting March 14 in Chester to review the results of the recently completed chronic wasting disease hunt and discuss the 2018 deer season.

A deer harvested north of Chester Nov. 12 tested positive for the contagious wasting disease led to a special deer hunt in Liberty County to gauge the distribution and prevalence of CWD. The special hunt ended Feb. 15 with no diseased animals found among 121 mule deer taken by hunters.

FWP announced that a hunt to gauge the prevalence of the disease after six deer harvested in Carbon County tested positive found 10 deer testing positive, a low enough number that herd management in that area is not needed.

In the Liberty County hut, final test results from 32 bucks and 89 does taken during the Sage Creek Special CWD Hunt came back negative.

The March 14 meeting will be at 7 p.m. in the Chester High School Auditorium, 511 Main St. The intent of the meeting is to review CWD, provide results of the CWD hunt, discuss the 2018 general season, and what CWD surveillance may look like in 2018.

CWD is a progressive, fatal neurological disease.

It was discovered in an elk in a game farm near Philipsburg in 1999, but least year marked the first time the disease has been found in wild game in Montana.

The disease is known to exist in wild animals in Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada and in Wyoming and North and South Dakota.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the disease affects deer, elk, reindeer, sika deer and moose.

While no cases of the disease infecting people have been reported, it is recommended to never ingest meat from animals that appear to be sick or are known to be CWD positive. The CDC recommends hunters who have harvested a deer, elk, or moose from a known CWD-infected area have the animal tested prior to consuming it.

If hunters harvest an animal that appears to be sick, the best thing to do is contact FWP and have the animal inspected, the agency said.

More information about CWD and the special hunt is available online at http://fwp.mt.gov/cwd.