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Idiot Deer Hunter Brings A CWD Deer
Carcass To Oregon From Montana


From Patricia Doyle
11-26-17

 
Hello Jeff …  Now we could see CWD spreading in Central Oregon thanks to a hunter bringing in a dead CWD positive carcass.

I thought that bringing deer carcasses from CWD positive States to CWD-free States was illegal.  At least the idiot hunter should have waited until CWD tests came back before moving his kill to a CWD-free State.  Carelessness  and arrogance are what spread diseases and once this gets into the Oregon deer population, it's game over.

So now we have CWD from coast to coast, from Canada to almost the Mexican border and all points in between.   

I am sorry for the beautiful deer.

Patty

Published Date: 2017-11-23 18:16:49
Subject: PRO/AH> Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (15): (OR), carcass ex Montana
Archive Number: 20171123.5462225

CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE, CERVID - USA (15): (OREGON) CARCASS ex MONTANA
***********************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org

Date: Mon 20 Nov 2017 09:21PM
Source: Bend Bulletin [edited]
http://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/5771024-151/deer-and-elk-disease-comes-to-central-oregon


Oregon saw its 1st confirmed case of a fatal and easily spread disease that affects deer and elk earlier this month [November 2017], thanks to a Madras [city of about 6000 in Oregon] hunter.

Following a recent hunting trip to Montana, Madras resident [LR], 46, brought the carcass of a deer that tested positive for chronic wasting disease, a protein disease that infects the brains and nervous systems of deer and other hoofed mammals, to Central Oregon. Tim Schwartz, division lieutenant for Oregon State Police, said there had never before been a confirmed case of an animal carcass carrying the infamous disease in Oregon.

Chronic wasting disease is found in captive and wild deer and elk populations in pockets across North America, from Pennsylvania to Alberta. Colin Gillin, state wildlife veterinarian for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the disease is spread through saliva, urine and feces, and can live in the environment -- in soil or even in plant populations -- for years after a contaminated animal makes contact. Gillin said the disease can sometimes take more than a year to show signs after a deer contracts it, but it's always fatal. "They're almost like the Typhoid Mary of the (deer and elk) world," Gillin said of infected animals.

No known outbreaks of the disease have occurred on the West Coast, but Gillin said the disease has been occurring in Colorado for at least 50 years, and it affects up to 40 per cent of wild deer in Wyoming, along with a significant percentage in Utah. Montana had only seen one other positive sample, but its proximity to affected populations in other states makes it a concern, Gillin said.

With deer and elk populations in other Western states suffering from the disease, Oregon has made controlling its spread a priority. In 2002, the ODFW (Oregon Department of Wildlife and Fisheries) Commission banned the importation of live deer and elk from other states. The agency also banned hunters from bringing certain parts of deer and elk carcasses, including the skulls or nervous system, where chronic wasting disease is most concentrated in the body, from states where there has been a known case of the disease. Hunters who violate the ban can be cited for a misdemeanor. "It's a fairly extreme measure, but it reduces your risk," Gillin added.

On [Wed 8 Nov 2017], Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, a state agency that handles laws and regulations around wildlife in that state, notified Oregon State Police and ODFW that [LR's] mule deer carcass, which had not been properly harvested, had tested positive for the disease. [LR] was cited for importing illegal deer parts, and state police officers confiscated meat from the infected deer. [LR] could not be reached for comment.

While some parts of the carcass were found on [LR's] property, other parts were buried at the landfill, according to Gillin. Ultimately, Schwartz said the state agencies determined that the parts at the landfill were buried too deep to be a danger to other deer or elk. The remaining parts, Gillin said, are in ODFW's possession and will be incinerated at 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, a necessary step to ensure the disease can't endure.
"It's not like you can just throw it on the bonfire," Gillin said.

[byline: Stephen Hamway]

--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail from HealthMap Alerts
<promed@promedmail.org>

[While CWD is known to spread through cervid populations, the article's headline is slightly misleading. While this may technically be the 1st case in Oregon, this was not a native Oregon animal.

CWD testing is not something that can be done within a few hours. It usually takes a least 24 hours, and often longer if secondary tests for confirmation are needed.

Further, it is a little suspicious the deer had been tested but not properly harvested. One might guess this means Montana knew the Oregon regulations, and believed the carcass they saw did not meet the stated Oregon criteria. - Mod.TG

A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/239.]