Hello Members: Earlier this year, CWD was found in New York whitetails - now, it has been found in West Virginia:

http://www.wvdnr.gov/2005news/05news167.shtm

Local radio reports here in Maryland are saying that WV DNR will be using sharpshooters to remove some animals for testing in the surrounding area. Things are going to get interesting .........

See what happens when you go looking for it?

People get way too excited about this. It has been here and Colorado for years. Every one I know eats and enjoys venison with out a worry.

They wouldn't hesitate to destroy an entire herd even though there is no connection with human disease.

This is not good. Nothing to do w/ a health risk to humans, but it is very bad for the health and future of elk and deer populations throughout the country.

CWD is fatal, period. The best data available to date shows that it can infect a whitetail deer, run its course and kill it in as little as 17 months. Once the infection hits a specific region or area, if the infected deer are not destroyed others will continue to be infected until CWD become endemic in that region or area. Problem is; no one has successfully been able to accomplish that feat anywhere in North America to include farmed or enclosed herds. Therefore, it appears to be impossible to erradicate CWD in the wild by culling.

End result will be CDW becoming endemic throughout North America w/ a large percentage of the elk and deer population never reaching their full potential, dying off early.

I don't like this at all. We have a couple states that are getting torn up w/ this now and they may be spiraling out of control. How long before we see this in all states? How long before it becomes difficult to find healthy mature deer or elk? My lifetime? My kids lifetime?

I would like to see some progress, but every year it seems to spread more at an exponential rate. Maybe this is nothing more than mother nature at work putting things in balance.

Gary

We don't have dead deer and elk laying all around.Our herds are doing fine, many doe and cow tags are available. Colorado has more elk than in any modern time , they can't kill enough of them. I think people over react to this disease, yes it is bad, but not the end of the world. Look at all the deer Wisc. killed andthe disease is still there. Get over it and live with it.

hello;
We just had couple of cases found in mule Deer near Oyen, in east central Alberta.
Grizz

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
They wouldn't hesitate to destroy an entire herd even though there is no connection with human disease.

You should probably do some reading before making such a "broad" statement. This disease will cause human fatalities and is related to an entire class of diseases that affect the brain in animals and humans.

Bowhunterrl, you are patently INCORRECT. CWD is a prion disease, like mad cow, Creutzfeld-Jakob, and like scrapie. The best science we currently have indicates it is NOT transferable to humans.

There are many different prions. Some are somewhat transferrable to humans (like Mad Cow). Others are not, like scrapie (the sheep version). As a matter of fact, science has identified NINE different scrapie versions. Most have been in this country for well over a century. There are other prion diseases known that target mink and cats, among others.

One of the better sources of information is at http://www.CWD-info.org. HTH, Dutch.

GaryVA, you are assuming that CWD is spreading. Mainstream science is barking up the wrong tree as it is completely ignoring the environmental genesis of the disease for political reasons. It is not spreading, it is a condition that occurs in a deer population due to a specific set of environmental conditions. That's why I say when we go looking for it we shouldn't be surprised when we find it.

quote:

Originally posted by Dutch:
Bowhunterrl, you are patently INCORRECT. CWD is a prion disease, like mad cow, Creutzfeld-Jakob, and like scrapie. The best science we currently have indicates it is NOT transferable to humans.

Dutch,

Creutzfeld-Jakob IS a human disease !!! All the reading I've done thus far indicates that there may be a connection between this and CWD IE the people in Britain who contracted Creutzfeld-Jakob after eating infected bovines. I really don't think we should minimize this disease. I think awareness about this "family"of diseases should be hightened so that people can become more aware of the risks and dangers. I understand that there are still a lot of blanks to fill in about these diseases and their connections to humans, but I firmly believe that we shouldn't ignore the possibilities.

The West Virginia Department of Natural Resources harvested approximately 120 deer for testing in the area that the first CWD deer was found. Of these 120 deer three additional deer were found to be infected with CWD.

Those are some bad numbers. We've been watching for CWD up here after a few cases, but it seems to be on the decline. Now the worry is shifting to tuberculosis, there's been reports of a few infected animals near the Sask. border. I just hope that NRS up here can contain the disease and conserve the wildlife population as they have been.

quote:

Originally posted by ELKMAN2:
We don't have dead deer and elk laying all around.Our herds are doing fine, many doe and cow tags are available. Colorado has more elk than in any modern time , they can't kill enough of them. I think people over react to this disease, yes it is bad, but not the end of the world. Look at all the deer Wisc. killed andthe disease is still there. Get over it and live with it.

One BIG difference between the deer population in WI and CO or WY is the deer DENSITY. Out west, you are talking about pretty sparse populations (e.g. less than 10 per square mile). In the area where I hunt (the "Disease Eradication Zone" located in South Central WI), the population densities are between 30-60 deer per square mile. I am not a wildlife biologist but the reading that I have done on research from biologists suggests that dense deer populations will accelerate the spread of the disease. The estimates that I have seen suggest that, if left unchecked, the incidence rate will be upwards of 40% within 20 years.

I agree that we have to learn how to live with it but I disagree with the viewpoint (held by many locals here) that hunters should sit out opportunities to trim the herd population down to a reasonable level.

Doug

douglast, you are correct, any population that is dense will promote disease transmission more so than a less dense one, animal or otherwise.

It is truly amazing the level of poulation -- or overpopulation that deer will expand to. I hunt several farms here in Georgia where the owners have depredation permits. I have seen the populations grow at incredible rates when left unchecked. The natural predators of whitetails do not take a very large quantity of deer in Georgia. I have been on these farms at night, and deer will repeatedly run headlong into high fenced areas of the farms trying to get to the trees or crops. It is amazing what a crop impact they can have.

I don't know what limiting factors have to occur to stem the population growth, but, as an example, there is a state park near where I live that had no hunting allowed for in excess of 20 years. If you drove through that park (it is along a major traffic corridor) you would always see at least 20-30 deer. They had eaten literally all browse within their reach. The entire population was significantly under weight. Older deer in this population looked emaciated.

I think that harvest levels have been managed well here in Georgia typically, this park would be an exception. Ultimately the DNR sent sharpshooters into this park to reduce population. Deer had been darted and relocated for several years beforehand, but there wasn't a significant reduction in population and the cost for darting and transplanting was very high.

I am anxious to know if there is some natural environmental conditions that cause CWD as another poster mentioned, it certainly is not just overpopulation, this was proven at the state park I mentioned, it was overpopulated for many years ( at least 12-14 years) and no CWD.

I will be endeavoring to learn more about CWD myself, we do need to be advised and informed.

Don

quote:

Originally posted by Fish30114:

I will be endeavoring to learn more about CWD myself, we do need to be advised and informed.

Don

Don,

I agree that much work remains ahead just to understand modalities of transmission.

Interestingly enough, I received a call just this evening from the department of health. They were following upn on disposition of three positive deer that I shot this past spring. Unfortunately, one of deer was consumed prior to the CWD test results being sent back. This happened after I had let the recipient of this animal know that it would be tested for CWD and that they needed to wait to get for the results prior to eating.

Doug

Douglast, that is interesting, I hope this disease isn't transferrable through consumption--amazing that those folks didn't wait even though you told them it would be tested! I will be interested to learn if that is an issue or not.

Did you have other deer tested from the same area that were not positive? Just curious.

I hope this disease is manageable, and I am anxious to learn of it's origin in a previously uninfected population of animals.

Don

quote:

One BIG difference between the deer population in WI and CO or WY is the deer DENSITY. Out west, you are talking about pretty sparse populations (e.g. less than 10 per square mile). In the area where I hunt (the "Disease Eradication Zone" located in South Central WI), the population densities are between 30-60 deer per square mile. I am not a wildlife biologist but the reading that I have done on research from biologists suggests that dense deer populations will accelerate the spread of the disease. The estimates that I have seen suggest that, if left unchecked, the incidence rate will be upwards of 40% within 20 years.

I agree that we have to learn how to live with it but I disagree with the viewpoint (held by many locals here) that hunters should sit out opportunities to trim the herd population down to a reasonable level.

There is no place in nature where deer population densities are anywhere near as high as in the commercial deer breeding operations. I am not referring to the fenced in hunting operations, but the deer farms that breed deer for whatever purpose, stocking or meat. It seems coincidental that most of the cases found in the northeast have been in deer breeding operations. The feeds that they use contain protein supplements that are made from animal protein. The deer live in very close proximity to each other, and present an epidemiologist's dream for transmission of any disease.
If we want to get a handle on CWD, we must start with the commercial operations. Further, if CWD is found in a wild population, sportsmen must be responsible for eliminating it. Not to do so is not only unethical but stupid.
The case of CWD discovered in West Virginia (Hampshire County) is uncomfortably close to where I live. I have no doubt that the disease exists in Pennsylvania. It just hasn't been discovered yet. Our population densities in some areas are still way to high and need to be trimmed to what the ecosystem will bear, but many of our "sportsmen" resist any attempt to reduce. Hampshire county is not far from Bedford.

As to CWD and CJD in man: a good friend died 2 years ago of a disease indistinguishable from CJD-excpt she was not in an at risk group. Her only risky behavior was her fondness for deer brains and eggs for breakfast.
Prions are strange little things.

quote:

Originally posted by Fish30114:
Douglast, that is interesting, I hope this disease isn't transferrable through consumption--amazing that those folks didn't wait even though you told them it would be tested! I will be interested to learn if that is an issue or not.

Did you have other deer tested from the same area that were not positive? Just curious.

Don

Don,

All the deer shot in the area where I hunt ("Disease Eradication Zone" or DEZ) are tested. The DNR sends you a post card by mail if the test is negative and they call you by phone if the test is positive.

It is important to keep in mind that the test done on these animals is not a "food grade test." In other words, a negative test for CWD does not guarantee that the animal is not diseased (i.e. false-negative tests are possible).

I do not know what the long term health effects are from eating CWD-positive deer. It seems that eating parts of the deer where the prions are concentrated elevates the risk. Carefully butchering the animal and minimizing the invasion of areas where prions concentrate (brain and spinal cord) significantly reduces or eliminates risks.

Doug

I don't think there is any reason to consume any nerve tissue given what is known about these diseases. Believe me I'm no alarmist but 40 years ago tissue from human MS fatalities was shown to produce a disease in sheep indistinguishable from Scrapie. Scrapie is now known to be a prion disease.

I think that CWD has been around forever and deer and elk have been dying forever , and untill they
came up with a name to blame it on they were all
mysterious and unexplained deaths.
Don't get me wrong, I am concerned,very concerned
CDOW found it in a archery killed bull moose near
Walden Co
Charlie

Well, we know it was recognized in the western states in the early '60's. I've seen films that were made back then of deer with the wobbly gait,etc.