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Chronic Wasting Disease - Information For Hunters

CWD News and Updates

  • CWD Updates

    Get the latest updates, maps, and news releases, as well as background information about CWD in Alberta.

What is Chronic Wasting Disease?

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a serious disease that kills members of the deer family such as mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, and moose.

For more information on Chronic Wasting Disease and Alberta's CWD management strategy, see:

  • Chronic Wasting Disease

    Basic information on CWD, as well as information about freezer locations where you can turn in harvested deer heads for testing.

Deer Head Submission and CWD Testing

Hunters play an important role in Alberta's CWD monitoring by submitting heads of harvested deer for CWD testing.

Step One: Deer Head Submission

Hunter CWD surveillance starts with the submission of hunter-harvested deer heads along with the geographic coordinates where each deer was killed in Alberta.
  • Depending on where in Alberta you are hunting, deer head submission for CWD testing is either mandatory or voluntary.
    • Be familiar with the CWD testing requirements for the area that you are hunting in.
    • For a map illustrating mandatory CWD testing areas in Alberta, see Related Information below for CWD Freezer Locations (Deer Hunters: Assist Us With Our CWD Surveillance).
  • If possible, please do not shoot deer in the head, as this can damage the lymph nodes and brain samples needed for testing. A usable sample consists of the entire head but you can remove the antlers and antler skull plate and not damage the required tissues.
  • Please remove the neck just behind the head – so the head takes up much less space in the freezer!
  • Do not remove and submit only the brain.
  • For so-called 'European'; mounts, submit the lower portion of the skull, including:
    • Lower jaw
    • Tissues at the back of the throat, and
    • The part of the skull that contains the connection between the spinal cord and the brain
  • Keep the deer head frozen.
    • You can drop off the frozen head at any Fish and Wildlife office in Alberta (during regular office hours)
    • During fall rifle seasons there are 24-hour freezer locations where heads can be dropped off. See Related Information below for CWD Freezer Locations (Deer Hunters: Assist Us With Our CWD Surveillance).
  • Every head submitted for CWD testing must have a green CWD identification label fixed to it (see below).
  • The freezers contain bags and green CWD identification labels for you to fill out (bags and labels also are available at Fish and Wildlife offices). It is very important that you:
    • Fill out both sides of the CWD label, providing as much detail as possible regarding the location of the submitted sample (GPS, Sec/Twp/Rge, or latitude/longitude) in addition to the Wildlife Management Unit [WMU])
    • Provide your complete personal contact information, so that we can contact you with test results
    • Fasten the CWD label securely to the head of the deer.
    • Keep the bottom part of the label as your record of the CWD number that identifies each specific deer head.

Related Information

Step Two: Deer Head Testing

Hunter-submitted deer heads are tested to determine if the harvested deer was infected with CWD. Results of tests are provided to the hunter via AlbertaRELM . Only those hunters without AlbertaRELM accounts set up will receive a hard copy letter by mail.

  • All CWD laboratory testing in Alberta is conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD).
  • CWD test results are reported to the Fish and Wildlife Division of Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) on an ongoing basis.
  • All hunters who submit heads for CWD testing will be informed by SRD about results on their deer.
  • Hunters who submit deer heads that test NEGATIVE for CWD and who have an AlbertaRELM account should
    • Check their AlbertaRELM website for results 4-6 weeks after submission of the head (you will need your WIN number).
  • Hunters who DO NOT have an AlbertaRELM account set up should
    • Watch for a notice of negative results sent in the mail.
  • Hunters who submit deer heads that test POSITIVE for CWD will be contacted directly by phone by Fish and Wildlife staff.
  • Ongoing public notification of positive cases in wild deer in Alberta is provided on SRD web pages. Summary of all CWD testing in Alberta is provided through the ARD websites.
  • Data collected from CWD surveillance is used to determine the geographic boundaries, magnitude, and rate of spread and magnitude of the disease in Alberta. These data also are used to support ongoing management as well as research done in conjunction with the University of Alberta to better understand this disease.

Related Information

 

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Updated: Oct 14, 2011