the disease". From one CWD-infected herd in Alberta, 131 elk were sold for human consumption. For the fall 2019 hunting season in western Quebec, the provincial ministry relaxed the rules for the annual white-tailed deer (WTD) hunt, in an effort to curb the spread of CWD. Any WTD can be hunted with any weapon in certain municipalities in the Outaouais valley and the Laurentides. The MFFP hopes thereby to receive more samples to test for CWD. The quarantine around Grenville was still in place, and the ministry specifically prohibited (only) the "removal" from the quarantine "enhanced monitoring area" zone of "the head, more specifically any part of the brain, the eyes, the retropharyngeal lymph nodes and the tonsils, any part of the spinal column, the internal organs (including the liver and the heart), and the testicles." Signs and symptoms Due to CWD taking 18–24 months after initial exposure to onset, most cases of CWD occur in adult animals; the youngest animal to exhibit clinical symptoms of the disease was 15 months. The disease is progressive and always fatal. The first signs are difficulties in movement. The most obvious and consistent clinical sign of CWD is weight loss over time. Behavioral changes also occur in the majority of cases, including decreased interactions with other animals, listlessness, lowering of the head, tremors, repetitive walking in set patterns, and nervousness. Excessive salivation and grinding of the teeth also are observed. Most deer show increased drinking and urination; the increased drinking and salivation may contribute to the spread of the disease. Loss of fear of humans and appearance of confusion are also common. The APHIS summarized it as: Cause The cause of CWD (like other TSEs, such as scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy) is a prion, a misfolded form of a normal protein, known as prion protein (PrP), that is most commonly found in the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS). The misfolded form has been shown to be capable of converting normally folded prion protein, PrPC ("C" for cellular) into an abnormal form, PrPSc ("Sc" for scrapie), thus leading to a chain reaction. CWD is thought to be transmitted by this mechanism. The abnormality in PrP has its genetic basis in a particular variant of the protein-coding gene PRNP that is highly conserved among mammals and has been found and sequenced in deer. The build-up of PrPd in the brain