[ODFW-News] Hunters not allowed to bring big game meat back from Canada

[ODFW News]

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife 	
Contact: 	Anne Pressentin Young (503) 872-5264 x5356	
Internet: www.dfw.state.or.us  Fax: (503) 872-5700
	
For Immediate Release	Tuesday, June 24, 2003

Hunters not allowed to bring big game meat back from Canada

PORTLAND - Big game hunters planning trips to Canada need to check with federal agricultural officials before paying for plane tickets or guide services to ensure they can bring game meat back home, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said today. 

In May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a ban on the importation of parts from ruminants because testing found a single domestic cow tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. The ban applies to deer, elk, bison, caribou, moose, musk ox, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and mountain goat, which are all from the ruminant family.

Carnivores such as bear, cougar or wolves are not included in the importation ban. 

BSE is commonly called "mad cow disease." It is a chronic, degenerative disease that affects the nervous system of cattle and eventually results in death. BSE is among a family of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Other diseases in this family include chronic wasting disease, which affects deer and elk, and scrapie in sheep and goats. The human form of TSE's is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. 

Information about BSE the importation ban can be found through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Web site at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bse/bse.html . In Oregon, the local contact is the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Veterinary Services, (503) 399-5871.
###


Information and Education Division
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
(503) 872-5264 ext 5528