Province initiates mandatory testing for Bovine Tuberculosis for hunters

Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Environment has implemented mandatory testing for Bovine Tuberculosis (TB) in east central Saskatchewan for hunters.

The mandate comes after the province detected an infection in a 2023 captive cattle herd.

“Bovine Tuberculosis is a chronic bacterial disease that typically affects cattle. It’s a debilitating disease that tends to progress in animals and can often cause respiratory infection,” explained the ministry’s wildlife specialist Iga Stasiak.

“Although it's primarily a disease of cattle, it can also affect other species of domestic livestock and wildlife including elk, deer, moose and wild boar, which is why we're concerned about it.”

Hunters will be required to submit heads of elk and white-tailed deer for testing within one month from the time the animal was harvested.

The province is also encouraging people to submit moose and mule deer in the infected areas, which includes Wildlife Management Zones (WMZ) 37 and 48; located north of Duck Mountain Provincial Park and surrounding area.

“It’s extremely rare. We have never detected it in wildlife, but as a precaution we want to make sure that our wildlife populations remain disease free which is why we're instituting mandatory monitoring for the disease in the area where the infected cattle are,” Stasiak expressed.

The infected cattle herd was depopulated since, she added.

However, Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) pointed out that getting rid of a herd can have major implications on producers.

“In the case of Bovine Tuberculosis, the only remedy is the destruction of the herd,” Bill Prybylski, vice-president of APAS, said.

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“It’s not only financially devastating for the producers to have their livelihood destroyed, but emotionally as well. Most producers will spend a lifetime building their herds, in terms of numbers and genetics, and to have to destroy it all in one fell swoop would be emotionally devastating as well as the financial impact to whatever their revenue is down to zero.”

Prybylski said producers are in favour of the mandate as it will prevent any harm to livestock.

“The livestock industry is critically important to not only the producers involved in the industry and the provincial economy, but the environment as well,” he said.

“We can’t afford any hits to the livestock industry. We’ve come through some pretty tough times in terms of finances and we’re finally seeing some decent prices for cattle so we need to do whatever we can to maintain that viability of the livestock industry.”

The Government of Saskatchewan stated the process to submit a sample for Bovine TB is the same as testing for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), which can be dropped off at any location listed on the province’s website.