cwd is a silent killer, incubating in the gut before spreading to the brain. bilyea estimated it could decades for an infected person to develop symptoms. he added that other prion diseases such as kuru or creutzfeldt-jakob disease (cjd) often present as dementia, which could potentially lead to cwd cases going unnoticed.
capi recommends that hunters test their meat before sale or personal consumption, which not only keeps people safe, but also contributes to research by revealing cwd hotspots.
testing requires hunters to submit the heads of the animal they kill, but goddard wants the process improved.
in saskatchewan, according to the province’s website, fresh or frozen heads can be dropped off at select ministry of environment field offices, parks offices or self-service drop-off locations, with results available in roughly six weeks.
in alberta, the provincial government supplies freezers on known hunting grounds to preserve the heads, but they’re often overcrowded and expensive to build.
“we’re seeing a reduction in the number of freezer locations in the province at the moment,” goddard said, adding the alberta government has reduced funding for these spaces.
* this is a corrected story. a previous version stated that cattle could contract cwd. cows have not been shown to have cwd yet, although they do get a similar prion disease such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy. although studies were conducted showing that cattle could potentially contract cwd, there have not been any cases of natural infection.