The first known cases of Chronic Wasting Disease in British Columbia have been discovered in two deer in the Kootenays. Officials have been keeping an eye on the southeastern area of B.C. for some time, as nearby outbreaks have occurred in Alberta, Montana and Idaho. The two recent positive samples came from an area south of Cranbrook.

Another species of deer has been detected suffering from chronic wasting disease in Manitoba according to the province.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced Wednesday that a wild deer tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Marquette County.

This is the first time CWD, which affects the nervous systems of deer and elk and has no known cure, has been discovered in the province.

The death of an elk in eastern Finland has been blamed on chronic wasting disease, which has never been seen in the country before.

CWD was first recorded in Saskatchewan in 1996 on a game farm, but has since moved into the wild deer, elk and moose populations, with wildfire-like infection rates in some areas. Up to 70 per cent of male deer are infected with the fatal disease, says a wildlife health specialist.

An incurable disease found in deer, elk, and moose is spreading across Alberta, according to new provincial surveillance results — and certain populations have reached a 23 per cent positivity rate.