Chronic Wasting Disease is a threat to deer, moose, elk and caribou species
PETERBOROUGH — Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has the potential to kill entire populations of deer species, and the disease is knocking at Ontario’s door.
The threat of CWD reaching Ontario increased substantially in the fall of 2018, with the disease found on a red deer farm in Quebec, almost directly across the border from the Ottawa River.
CWD is a fatal, untreatable disease affecting the nervous system of members of the cervid species family, which includes deer, moose, elk and caribou.
“In places like Ontario, the time for action is now,” says OFAH Manager of Fish and Wildlife Services, Matt DeMille. “We can no longer wait on governments to decide CWD prevention is a priority. Hosting this conference is our way of kick-starting the momentum needed to force positive change.”
The OFAH is bringing CWD experts and organizations from across Canada and the United States to the Hilton Mississauga-Meadowvale March 15-16 to raise awareness and to build a strong coalition that can push for CWD action. There will be more than 50 agencies, organizations and interest groups participating, including First Nations, health and medicine, science and research, industry and more.
To learn more about the OFAH Conference on CWD, visit www.ofah.org/conference and follow along throughout the two-day event on social media, using the following hashtags:
#keepCWDout
#protectONdeer
#fightCWD
#NOCWD
For more information on CWD, including details on what the OFAH is asking government to do about the disease, visit www.ofah.org/cwd.
With 100,000 members, subscribers and supporters, and 740-member clubs, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters is the leading non-profit fishing, hunting and conservation-based organization in Ontario.
Contact:
Shawn Cayley,
OFAH Manager of Communications
705-760-5537 (cell)
e-mail: shawn_cayley@ofah.org