Monitoring for chronic wasting disease

Deer samples witll be collected at hunter check stations across the Panhandle over two weekends in November as part of a statewide program by Idaho Fish and Game to check for chronic wasting disease.

The stations will be open Nov. 16, 17, 23 and 24 from 10 a.m. to dark along Highway 57 at Priest River, along U.S. 95 at Samuels and along Highway 3 near St. Maries.

Chronic wasting disease is a contagious, deadly neurological disease that affects deer species includign elk and moose. Samples will be collected on a voluntary basis by collecting lymph nodes from the base of the jaw.

Fish and Game also has freezers at two locations in the region to collect deer heads from hunters. Each freezer has instructions and information tags. Heads should be kept cool or frozen before being dropped off at one of the freezers located at Far North Outfitters on 6791 S. Main St. in Bonners Ferry and at the WaterLife Discovery Center at 1591 Lakeshore Drive in Sagle.

Deer heads can also be dropped off at the Regional Office at 2885 W. Kathleen Ave. in Coeur d’Alene from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Fish and Game began testing for CWD in 1997 and has never detected the disease in Idaho although neighboring states such as Montana, Utah and Wyoming have confirmed CWD-positive animals close to the Idaho border. In the summer of 2019, several white-tailed deer sampled in Libby, Mont., tested positive for CWD.

So far, nearly 100 samples were collected in the Panhandle from August to November.

— Ralph Bartholdt