GOVERNMENT FUNDS CWD RAPID TESTING EQUIPMENT

Saskatchewan Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization (SAFRR) has provided $200,000 to Prairie Diagnostic Services (PDS) of Saskatoon to enhance the ability to perform rapid tests for all diseases in the category Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE), which includes Chronic Wasting Disease or CWD.

"The provision of a rapid test for CWD will ensure that Saskatchewan livestock producers have access to state of the art, cost effective testing for this disease," Agriculture and Food Minister Mark Wartman said. "We want to ensure that Saskatchewan's producers and the livestock industry are served by the best possible technology."

Prairie Diagnostic Services has provided CWD testing services for the last three years. Demand for these tests increased dramatically with the introduction in Saskatchewan of mandatory testing of game farmed cervids (elk and deer).

Demand for the tests increased again with the introduction of a significant surveillance program to monitor hunter-killed cervids. In total, approximately 10,000 domestic and wild specimens were tested for CWD in 2002; 13,000 in 2003 and about 12,000 in 2004.

"At present, CWD tests typically take from five to 10 working days," Acting Chief Executive Officer of PDS Marilyn Jonas says. "The new equipment will decrease the time it takes to do the test by close to half, to approximately three to four days."

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For More Information, Contact:

Scott Brown Agriculture and Food Regina Phone: (306)787-4031

Marilyn Jonas Prairie Diagnostic Services Saskatoon Phone: (306)966-7248