The Quebec government says surveillance and control measures in an area where deer were infected with a fatal disease will continue beyond a mid-November deadline.

Hunting and trapping were suspended in the area in September after chronic wasting disease was first detected in farm-raised deer. A total of three cases have been identified on the farm west of Montreal.

Quebec’s Wildlife Department says no infections have been found in wild animals so far, which is a positive sign for efforts to counter the disease.

But it can’t rule out the possibility the disease is present in the wild, because it takes a year to show up in testing.

The cull of 3,000 deer at the farm where the disease was found will continue until mid-December.

The disease, similar to mad cow disease, is an infection of the central nervous system that afflicts deer, elk, reindeer and moose. The condition eventually causes poor health, behavioural changes, disorientation and death.

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