i am NOT trying to start a fight with this, and i hope that it doesn't turn into a pissing contest -

but the discussion was brought up, and since we have no CWD here in montana (and no baiting, either, even hunting over grain spills is considered baiting), has anyone seen a correlation between CWD outbreaks and baiting deer?

It is very possible, if the prion that causes CWD is shed in the droppings. With enough traffic and duration of feeding at the same site, it is a given that some droppings will be consumed by deer feeding there. I do not know if that hypothesis has been proven or not. Another possible source of the rogue prion could be the protein source in the feed bought for the deer. If the protein has animal based components, including the prion in question, then it is safe to assume that baiting and feeding of deer in general could be to blame for the disease. The only problem with that theory is the fact that CWD was discovered in 1967 if memory serves. That was a housing facility for mule deer and therefore could have fed some protein product from the livestock industry to the deer. BSE(mad cow and a very similar condition to CWD)was the direct result of feeding ruminate based proteins to cows.

Joe

I don't think anyone has proven an actual correlation as yet, but there are a lot of studies going on.

My wife and I recently went on a hunt run by the state on a Wildlife Management Area, and they were not allowing any baiting, and they were taking brain samples, checking for CWD.

The evidence is compelling, and should it prove out that baiting helps promote the spread of CWD by concentrating deer numbers, hunting as many of us in Texas know it, will be changed.

With + or - 4 million deer in Texas, if CWD ever reaches here, the effects are going to be staggering. JMO.

NY state had 5 confirmed cases of CWD, all relating to a captive white-tailed deer, though two were found in the wild and likely released/escapees. Since the original detections there have been no new cases of the thousands of deer tested each year.

I just read an interesting note on this subject, where the writer noted that deer typically pick up an acorn or bite off a twig or plant and move on, leaving little chance that another deer will come along and contact the same area with it's saliva. On the other hand, concentrated feeding, such as piles of hay and especially corn, pumpkins, etc., will increase the likelihood of saliva-swapping. Mineral licks are probably not good, either. This increases the likelihood of the transmission of not only CWD, but of other viruses and diseases. NY has always been a no bait for hunting state (deer, bear, turkey, waterfowl).

NY immediately implemented emergency regulations that make it a real pain in the ass if you take a deer in much of the county where the CWD was found. Those regulations will be in effect for at least a couple more years until the 5 year sampling period has ended. I've heard the possibility that our CWD may have originated with an out-of-state deer or elk head coming here for taxidermy, then the "scraps" of the taxidermy somehow ended up in the environment where the captive deer got exposed.

I think it's one of those things where banning feeding of deer can control an outbreak IF CWD is detected, but it will likely never be proved that an outright ban prevents an outbreak of CWD.

Joe, the facility your refering to is in Fort Collins Colorado and is their research facility. The mule deer in question didn't get CWD that came in by way of contaminated feed. The mule deer enclosure had previousely been used to study sheep infected with a disease called scrappie...the disease that is called CWD in deer. Infected deer from that facility were shipped all over Co and nearby surrounding states before they realized they had a "NEW" DISEASE(CWD)....that they "invented".

The enclosure was cleared of all deer and restocked with healthy deer that soon became infected from living in the infected enclosure, probably from droppings.

So the answer is that CWD can be helped to spread if infected deer feed on the bait and spread the disease to healthy deer. But the infection ain't in the feed itself.

troy

Colorado State Uni. published a report in the last couple of years that said CWD is spred by a secretion that comes from either the nose or eyes of the infected deer. I think they said the eyes but it been a while sence I saw the report. the secretion can drip on to the feed or even mineral blocks and transfered by injestion.
One of the reasons we were so hard hit in the west is the deer moving to winter range increasing the odds of infection.

Troy,

Thank you, I wasn't aware of what went on in Fort Collins. That makes perfect sense as sheep scrapie is the origin of BSE in cattle. The sheep slaughtering houses sold the blood and scraps to meat and bone meal manufactures and they in turn sold the finished product to livestock produces as a cheap protein source. The protein of course carried the rogue protein complex that causes the disease. I can't imagine the what the increase in likelihood of transmission is if sheep grazing areas were to be used for other animals. Now I see why ranchers used to shoot sheep farmers when they moved into an area.

Joe

I could be wrong on this, but one of the articles I read concerning CWD and Fort Collins, was that they had started experiencing a problem with deer dieing for unknown at that time reasons, and that about that time their funding was cut, and the deer they had at the facility were turned loose, because if I am not mistaken the first cases of CWD in the wild came from the Fort Collins area.

Like I say, I could be wrong, but I believe that is the way the article went.

As I stated in my earlier response, if it is proven that CWD is spread by saliva or secretions, it will change the way business is done in Texas, and if an outbreak occurs within the deer herd in Texas it will be catastrophic in proportions.