States Report New Cases of CWD

[Ben Sobieck]

Bad news, folks. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) reached two new states: Missouri and North Dakota. Here's the latest on both situations.

Missouri

Source: jsonline.com

Add Missouri to the list of states with chronic wasting disease in its deer.

The Missouri departments of Agriculture, Conservation and Health and Senior Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a captive white-tailed deer in Linn County, Mo., tested positive for CWD.

It is the first such finding in the state; CWD has not been found in wild, free-roaming deer in Missouri.

CWD is a neurological disease found in deer, elk and moose. It was detected in Wisconsin's deer herd in 2002.

Upon receiving the confirmed CWD positive, the Missouri departments initiated their CWD contingency plan. Similar to other states, Missouri has placed restrictions on deer transfers.

Click here to read the rest.

North Dakota

Source: North Dakota Game and Fish Department

North Dakota Game and Fish Department officials were notified this morning by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Veterinary Services that a sick-looking mule deer taken last fall in western Sioux County has tested positive for chronic wasting disease. This is the first time CWD has been detected in a North Dakota animal.

Dr. Dan Grove, Game and Fish Department wildlife veterinarian, said a hunter in unit 3F2 shot an adult buck that did not appear to be healthy. "As we do with our targeted surveillance efforts, we collected the sample to test for CWD and bovine tuberculosis," Grove said.

The Game and Fish Department's targeted surveillance program is an ongoing, year-round effort that tests animals found dead or sick.

"We have been constantly monitoring and enhancing our surveillance efforts for CWD because of its presence in bordering states and provinces," said Greg Link, Game and Fish Department assistant wildlife division chief.

In addition to targeted surveillance, the department annually collects samples taken from hunter-harvested deer in specific regions of the state. In January, more than 3,000 targeted and hunter-harvested samples were sent to a lab in Minnesota. As of today, about two-thirds of the samples have been tested, with the one positive result. The remaining one-third will be tested over the next month.

Link said monitoring efforts have intensified in recent years and all units have been completed twice throughout the entire state.

"The deer population in unit 3F2 is above management goals, and hunter pressure will continue to be put on the population in that unit again this fall," Link said. "We are going to be aggressive with licenses and disease surveillance in that unit."

Since the department's sampling efforts began in 2002, more than 14,000 deer, elk and moose have tested negative for CWD.

CWD affects the nervous system of members of the deer family and is always fatal. Scientists have found no evidence that CWD can be transmitted naturally to humans or livestock.

[scotman]

Someone tell me keeping penned up whitetails is beneficial for our tradition in the long run please?

According to http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/02/25/chronic-wasting-disease-found-mo-deer/ ...

The animal that tested positive for CWD was a white-tailed deer inspected as part of the State's CWD surveillance and testing program.

And for North Dakota..http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/537603.html

We just need to concentrate on coming up with a containment plan that will decrease interaction between animals.

Maybe stop putting them in enclosures would help?

[clfenimore]

Missouri already had new Regulation changes to target CWD
Regulations recently approved by the Missouri Conservation Commission aim at preventing chronic wasting disease (CWD) from entering Missouri but, should it appear, the new rules ensure that authorities will detect the presence of the disease.

Some of the new regulations approved by the Conservation Commission took effect Sept. 1, when the Missouri Department of Agriculture's current moratorium on deer and elk importation expired. The new regulations apply to Class I wildlife breeders and hunting preserves that operate under Conservation Department permits. The regulations require:

Tagging of all deer and elk imported into wildlife breeding or licensed hunting preserves to allow individual animal identification.
CWD testing of all deer and elk over 12 months of age that die of any cause in wildlife breeding facilities or breeding pens of licensed hunting preserves.
Enrollment of wildlife breeder operations and breeding pens of licensed hunting preserves in Missouri's chronic wasting disease monitoring program by March 31.
Maintaining records on deer and elk importation and CWD tests at breeding facilities and hunting preserves.
Immediate reporting of any positive CWD test results.
The Conservation Commission's action capped a year-long review of the rapidly changing CWD issue. The review included options to minimize risk of the disease for Missouri's deer herd, and deer and elk held in captivity. CWD has not been detected in Missouri, but discoveries of CWD among wild or captive deer and elk in other states lent urgency to the process.

Besides tightening regulations on captive deer and elk, Conservation officials also are implementing a three-year program of aggressive CWD monitoring for the state's wild deer herd. The plan calls for testing more than 6,000 hunter-killed deer from about 30 counties annually, beginning this fall. Deer from all 114 of Missouri's counties will be tested within three years.

Hunters' participation in the testing program will be voluntary. The Conservation Department will collect deer heads at check stations and send tissue samples to a federally approved lab in Wyoming. The Conservation Department will make results public when they become available.

In addition, the Conservation Department will continue following up on reports of sick deer and testing them as it did during the 2001-2002 hunting season. None of the deer tested last year had CWD.

The Conservation Department has regulatory authority over free-ranging and captive deer and over captive elk at license hunting preserves. The state Agriculture Department is responsible for regulating farmed elk. In the past, the two agencies have worked together to control tuberculosis and brucellosis in wild and domestic animals.

To replace the lapsed moratorium, the Agriculture Department will require anyone who wants to bring deer or elk into Missouri to get an entry permit from the state veterinarian. These animals must be tagged.

Effective Oct. 1, elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer brought into Missouri, regardless of their origin, must come from herds that are documented to be CWD free for the past three years. These efforts are similar to with CWD control plans being developed by federal officials.

To date, CWD is known to affect only elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer. No link has been found between CWD and other similar diseases.

[IsitInTREES]

I have read a lot about CWD.  I still am not sure if CWD is as big of a deal as the media makes it out to be.
It seems much like other natural diseases, it comes and it goes.
In Michigan they took major steps to cut baiting to stop CWD. 
They also did they same to stop TB.
I think both are natural occuring and natural will take care of them.

[Ben Sobieck]

UPDATE

That Missouri deer appears to be an isolated incident.






CWD Test Results Negative in White-Tailed Deer in Missouri
USAgNet - 03/22/2010

The Missouri Departments of Agriculture and Conservation announced that tests of 50 captive deer sampled in Linn County showed no signs of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). Tests were conducted by the USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. The Department of Conservation continues to test a sampling of free-ranging deer within a five-mile radius of the 800-acre tract where the initial CWD-positive white-tailed deer was located.

"The Missouri Department of Agriculture, Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services and USDA have worked cooperatively in putting an aggressive and effective plan in place and quickly executing that plan," said State Veterinarian Dr. Taylor Woods. "The sampling and negative test results should reassure the public that the infection does not appear widespread."

State agencies continue an active and robust tracking plan through which deer near the site are monitored for the disease.

"We will continue to monitor free-ranging deer in the surrounding area," said Bob Ziehmer, director of the Missouri Department of Conservation. "The continued cooperation of nearby landowners and support from the sportsmen in the area has been greatly appreciated."

CWD is transmitted by live animal-to-animal contact or soil-to-animal contact and has never been reported in humans or cattle. The disease was first recognized in 1967 in a captive mule deer in the Colorado Division of Wildlife research facility in Fort Collins, Colo.

[scotman]

ORIGINAL: IsitInTREES

I have read a lot about CWD.  I still am not sure if CWD is as big of a deal as the media makes it out to be.
It seems much like other natural diseases, it comes and it goes.
In Michigan they took major steps to cut baiting to stop CWD. 
They also did they same to stop TB.
I think both are natural occuring and natural will take care of them.

I disagree only becuase the number of incidents show a direct correlation that deer in enclosures are more susceptible than the free roaming population. The amount of cases being reported are not from the free raoming population, the vast amount of incidents are from deer that are enclosed within a fence.

[clfenimore]

That Missouri deer appears to be an isolated incident.

Missouri's proactive steps to put a testing protocol in place and create a contingency plan years ago are proving beneficial. We are in a solid position to follow pre-established steps to ensure Missouri's valuable whitetail deer resource remains healthy and strong," said Jason Sumners Missouri's deer biologist.
The Missouri Departments of Agriculture, Conservation and Health and Senior Services and USDA announced Feb. 25 that a captive white-tailed deer in Linn County has tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease. The animal that tested positive for CWD was a white-tailed deer inspected as part of the state's CWD surveillance and testing program. The USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa conducted preliminary tests.
Upon receiving the confirmed CWD positive, Missouri's departments of Agriculture, Conservation and Health and Senior Services initiated their CWD Contingency Plan. The plan was developed in 2002 by the Cervid Health Committee, a task force comprised of veterinarians, animal health officers and conservation officers from USDA, MDA, MDC and DHSS working together to mitigate challenges associated with CWD.

[scotman]

Yea they been cracking down on importation of deer from other states as well to fight CWD.

Frampton said, "The illegal importation of deer constitutes a threat to the state's deer resource and hunting tradition, making them a great concern to the department. Additionally, deer hunting contributes over $200 million to the states economy annually, most of which is spent at the local level in counties that depend on natural resource based economics.  Too much is at stake for the department, as well as, South Carolina's citizens to condone this type of activity."

      According to Ruth, "Disease is at the top of the list of reasons that the importation of deer into South Carolina is not allowed. Although the deer allegedly originated in Ohio, we now know that deer came from at least 3 states including Wisconsin, a state that is known to have CWD."

      CWD, a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE), has recently emerged as a significant threat to North America's deer populations, Ruth said. "TSE's are fatal neurological diseases characterized by the degeneration of the brain. Although somewhat different, CWD is essentially the deer version of "Mad Cow Disease" which has been so devastating to the British livestock industry. Disease experts indicate that CWD only affects members of the deer family with no link being made to livestock or humans." 

      "Although the disease has been diagnosed in 14 states and two Canadian Provinces, South Carolina has had a low risk of having a problem with CWD for two reasons," Ruth said. "CWD has not been detected in the Southeast, and South Carolina is geographically far from any areas known to harbor CWD. Second, South Carolina has not allowed the interstate movement of deer, and there is evidence that movements of deer for commercial purposes have played a role in the current CWD situation nationally. Obviously, cases of illegal importation greatly increase the state's risk of introduction of CWD and are of great concern."

Cited Source:

http://www.southcarolinasportsman.com/details.php?id=853

If you follow the link you can read the full article about a few hunters caught and indited in a illegal deer importation ring that crossed over multiple states.

According to court records, James Schaffer of Charleston conspired with Danny L. Parrott of Kimbolton, Ohio and other unnamed individuals, to transport deer to South Carolina on several occasions in late 2005.

Approximately $70,000 were paid for the deer, which went to Graham's Turnout Hunt

[IsitInTREES]

I disagree only becuase the number of incidents show a direct correlation that deer in enclosures are more susceptible than the free roaming population. The amount of cases being reported are not from the free raoming population, the vast amount of incidents are from deer that are enclosed within a fence.

 
I agree with that in enclosures.  I do believe that they are more likely to be in closer contact on a more regular basis.

[clfenimore]

MDC CWD testing shows no cases in free-ranging deer
JEFFERSON CITY – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) recently completed testing for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) on a sample of free-ranging white-tailed deer from areas of Linn, Macon and Chariton Counties. Test results showed no cases of CWD.

Missouri was recently added to the list after the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) reported the state's first and only known case of CWD in late February. It came from a captive whitetail buck at a private hunting ranch in Linn County. The MDA handles CWD testing in captive deer in Missouri. The MDA then tested an additional 50 captive deer from the ranch. Results showed no additional cases of CWD.

In response to this initial case, the MDC collected tissue samples for testing from 153 free-ranging deer within a five-mile radius of the private hunting ranch. The MDC also included 72 samples collected from hunter-harvested deer taken from Linn and surrounding counties during the 2009-2010 deer seasons.

"Our test results indicate that Missouri's free-ranging deer population remains free of CWD. This is very good news," said MDC Director Bob Ziehmer. "We greatly appreciate the cooperation and support from the more than 120 area landowners and sportsmen involved in harvesting deer to obtain the samples. And those deer did not go to waste. Missourians will benefit from the approximately 5,000 pounds of processed venison we were able to donate to the Share the Harvest program."

Ziehmer added that the health of the state's deer population is important to all Missourians. "Deer hunting and wildlife watching are vital parts of our state's economy, our outdoor traditions and our communities."

MDC State Deer Biologist Jason Sumners noted that the Department will continue its ongoing CWD monitoring efforts.

"We will be testing tissue samples from hunter-harvested deer taken in the northern half of the state during the upcoming fall deer seasons, and we will continue sampling efforts in the area where the initial case was discovered," said Sumners.

He added that, with the help of hunters and landowners, the MDC has tested more than 24,000 free-ranging deer for CWD since 2002 from all parts of the state with no CWD-positive deer found. This long-term testing has been part of Missouri's ongoing monitoring for CWD through a special task force established in 2002. The task force is composed of experts from MDA, MDC, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.