Indigenous Hunters in Path of Chronic Wasting Disease Demand Federal Action – The Tyee

New findings game can infect humans spur calls for consultation, safety measures.

For years the known presence of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has stalked wild deer and elk populations in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Recent findings that the fatal neurological illness could possibly infect humans has intensified demands from First Nations that more be done to halt its spread. At stake for Indigenous people, they say, are not only their health, but hunting territories and traditions.

The new findings have intensified calls that federal officials dramatically change regulation of game farms — which have been tied to the disease — and better equip Indigenous people with ways to identify and avoid CWD in wild game.

Such urgings stem from the latest science and also cultural understandings formed over centuries.

Read More: https://thetyee.ca/News/2017/08/24/Indigenous-Hunters-Demand-Action/