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Chronic Wasting Disease of Elk and Deer Spreads Eastward WASHINGTON, DC, April 1, 2002 (ENS) - Wild deer as well as wild and captive elk in the western states have been plagued for several decades with an illness similar to mad cow disease called chronic wasting disease. Now the disease has spread east of the Mississippi River into Wisconsin, sending wildlife officials scrambling to find out how the sickness invaded their state from the western part of the country and how to control it. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was alerted on February 28, by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa that chronic wasting disease was detected from three deer registered in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin during the 2001 nine day gun season. Wisconsin state wildlife officials received word March 29 that two additional free ranging deer have tested positive for chronic wasting disease in the Mt. Horeb area of Dane County. This brings the total of known deer with chronic wasting disease in the area to five.
These results are the first to be returned from laboratory analysis of a planned 500 deer sample now being collected. Chronic wasting disease belongs to the family of diseases known as transmissable spongiform encephalopathies or prion diseases. It attacks the brains of infected deer and elk, causing the animals to become emaciated, display abnormal behavior, lose bodily functions and die. "This is certainly not good news but isn't cause for panic," said Tom Hauge, DNR chief of wildlife management and leader of an interagency chronic wasting disease investigation team. "It's not a surprise that more infected animals were found but we still have a lot of tests to be completed before we get the picture we're looking for from this sampling effort," he said. Wildlife and veterinary experts stress that they will not be making any decisions on how to proceed in managing this disease outbreak until all sample tests are completed and analyzed. "The sample size was set and spread out geographically to give us an idea of where the infection might be centered and how far it's spread," said DNR veterinarian Dr. Sarah Shapiro-Hurley. "The size of the sample will give us some statistically reliable data we can use to plan our next steps. "This is a communicable disease among deer and based on the experiences of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska where it already exists in wild herds, it can be expected to spread," she said. In the mid-1980s, chronic wasting disease was first detected in free ranging deer and elk in adjacent portions of northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming. In May 2001 the disease also was found in free ranging deer in the southwestern corner of Nebraska adjacent to Colorado and Wyoming. The disease has also been found on elk farms in Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Saskatchewan.
On March 29, Colorado Governor Bill Owens announced that a wild mule deer killed by a hunter within a captive elk ranch located near Craig, in north western Colorado was infected with chronic wasting disease. Two other mule deer, also taken from within the same facility are suspected to have been infected, according to preliminary test results. The finding is not covered by a Colorado Division of Wildlife report issued also on March 29 that announced chronic wasting disease is confined to northeastern Colorado, and has not spread to deer and elk herds elsewhere in the state. Governor Owens said, "This spread of chronic wasting disease is serious news for the state of Colorado. Until now, one of our best weapons for containing the disease was the Continental Divide. Now that barrier has been broken." "These findings are most disturbing," said Russell George, director of the Colorado Division of Wildlife. "As an agency we are focused on containing and reducing this disease. News of this nature hits hard and emphasizes how important it is for us to get ahead of this devastating disease." Division of Wildlife officials began Monday to remove at least 300 animals within a five-mile radius of the facility. The sampling effort will provide wildlife managers with an initial indication if the disease is present in free-roaming deer and elk outside the facility. It is unknown how the infected deer was exposed to chronic wasting disease. The nearest diagnosed case of the disease in wild deer or elk is located approximately 120 miles east of Larimer County. Species that have been affected with chronic wasting disease include Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, and black-tailed deer. Wildlife officials note that the disease is not a threat to cattle or sheep, but there is the possibility that it could affect humans who butcher or eat sick animals. In spite of ongoing surveillance for similar disease syndromes in humans, there has never been an instance of people contracting a prion disease from butchering or eating meat from animals infected with chronic wasting disease (CWD).
"Certainly, this is reassuring," noted Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services epidemiologist Jim Kazmierczak, "but no one can say with absolute certainty that CWD will never cause human disease. What is clear is that if there is a risk of human disease, it must be exceedingly small. Ultimately, whether or not you continue to eat venison harvested in the area of these positive CWD findings is up to you and your family." While there is currently no evidence that chronic wasting disease is linked to disease in humans, or in domestic animals other than deer and elk, the Agriculture Department says the "theoretical risk of such a link exists." Last September 27, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, declared an emergency because of chronic wasting disease. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) authorized a $2.6 million fund to implement a chronic wasting disease surveillance and indemnity program in the United States. The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is implementing the chronic wasting disease program by purchasing positive and exposed elk from herds infected with the disease. The infected animals will be slaughtered, and the owners will receive an indemnity, a payment, from the USDA. When declaring the emergency, Secretary Veneman said that aggressive action in controlling this disease now will decrease the chance of having to deal with a much larger, widespread, and costly problem later, such as the situation with mad cow disease in Europe. The European Union is working to rebuild consumer confidence in Europe's beef after recent outbreaks of mad cow disease in France, Spain, and Germany. As demonstrated in Europe, she said, once shaken, consumer confidence is very difficult to rebuild. APHIS Factsheet on Chronic Wasting Disease: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/cwd_fact_sheet.htm Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All rights reserved. |
Wild deer are suceptible to chronic wasting disease (Photo courtesy 
Colorado Governor Bill Owens (Photo courtesy Office of the Governor)
Deer under surveillance in Colorado Division of Wildlife pen (Photo courtesy 