Alberta government fact sheet<\/a> issued in November, P. tenuis can also fatally infect animals like Bighorn sheep and mountain goats, domestic livestock such as llamas and alpacas, and cattle on a rare basis.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201c[The worms] cause an incredible amount of damage,\u201d Jenkins said, adding that the parasite is one of the multiple factors contributing to declining moose and caribou populations.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas told CBC News in an emailed statement that it is developing a response plan, including an awareness campaign on how to recognize symptoms.<\/p>\n
The statement added that the plan also involves testing all white-tailed deer heads submitted for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) from northeastern Alberta. CWD is a prion disease affecting cervids in Alberta and Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n
Jenkins has been studying the worm\u2019s presence in Saskatchewan with other researchers. She said about 10 per cent of white-tailed heads tested had these , and it can be found in the northern and central regions.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinding it in white-tailed deer is really the definitive way of saying, \u2018Yes, this parasite\u2019s here to stay, and it\u2019s established and it\u2019s able to circulate locally,\u2019\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
WATCH | Chronic wasting disease has exploded through Alberta’s deer population:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765782909_568_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Chronic wasting disease has exploded through Alberta’s deer population<\/p>\n
It attacks the brain, has a 100 per cent fatality rate, and is spreading quickly through Alberta’s deer population. Researchers across western Canada, including Sabine Gilch in Alberta, are working on a potential vaccine for this deadly wasting disease. She joined Edmonton AM to talk about her work. <\/p>\n
Researchers thought the meningeal worm, which is native to eastern Canada and the eastern and central U.S., wouldn\u2019t migrate to the typically dry and cold western parts of North America, Jenkins said.<\/p>\n
But its presence in the northern regions of Alberta and Saskatchewan suggests it\u2019s travelling along the damp, leafy edge of the boreal forest, she said.<\/p>\n
P. tenuis not a surprise to Indigenous hunter<\/p>\n
For Indigenous hunters in northern Alberta, like Kevin Adby, news of P. tenuis isn\u2019t a surprise \u2014 but it is scary and frustrating.<\/p>\n
Adby, who hunted for decades, said he has noticed fewer and smaller moose over the years. But a new parasite could also hurt cultural traditions of hunting and harvesting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDeer used to be a big staple in our diet. Now, nobody even eats it anymore because of [chronic] wasting disease,\u201d Adby told CBC News. \u201cIf they hear about this, it\u2019ll be another excuse not to go out hunting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adby said watching younger generations lose interest in traditions like moose hunting is frustrating.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy son doesn\u2019t want to hunt, doesn\u2019t want to eat meat,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s tough that we\u2019re losing all this cultural display of life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jenkins is cautiously hopeful the worm won\u2019t spread too far south, she said, citing inhospitable conditions for larvae-laden slugs and snails.<\/p>\n
But she suggests farmers and ranchers \u2014 especially those raising herbivores like elk \u2014 take precautionary measures.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t go so far as to say it\u2019s going to become a production-limiting disease, but it\u2019s definitely something producers would need to be aware of,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-346269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Text](\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/a\/assets\/texttospeech.svg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765782909_351_default.jpg\")
Meningeal worms can be fatal for cervids, including moose, according to a Saskatchewan-based researcher. (CBC)<\/p>\n