- Hello Jeff - We just learned that West Virginia had its
first (reported) case of Chronic Wasting Disease. Now we hear about an
unidentified disease in a Kent County, Michigan deer that causes loss of
weight, foaming at the mouth and death. We also learn that the deer who
died of this illness were taken to a landfill before testing. This is extremely
dangerous...and stupid.
-
- It's just ludicrous: "We're kind of frustrated because
the Kent County deer were taken to a landfill before we could test them,"
Schmidt said.
-
- "Earlier this month, county police killed three
emaciated, sick deer and saw two others in the same condition near Townsend
Park. A few miles away, a woman saw a large buck suffering with similar
symptoms die in her backyard, and a man killed a fawn that was thin, blind,
drooling and losing hair, officials said."
-
- Can we spell: 'Mad Deer Roaming Michigan'?
-
- Patricia Doyle
-
- Officials Probe Deer Disease
-
- By Eric Sharp
- Free Press Outdoors Writer
- 9-11-5
-
- A strange illness that has affected wild whitetail deer
in Kent County probably isn't dreaded chronic wasting disease. But the
Michigan Department of Natural Resources wants the public to help it learn
what made the animals lose weight, foam at the mouth and stagger before
they died.
-
- "I'm pretty confident that it isn't CWD," Steve
Schmidt, a DNR veterinarian, said Friday. "We've tested more than
17,000 deer, 400 elk and 20 moose in Michigan and haven't found one case.
-
- "We're kind of frustrated because the Kent County
deer were taken to a landfill before we could test them," Schmidt
said.
-
- Earlier this month, county police killed three emaciated,
sick deer and saw two others in the same condition near Townsend Park.
A few miles away, a woman saw a large buck suffering with similar symptoms
die in her backyard, and a man killed a fawn that was thin, blind, drooling
and losing hair, officials said.
-
- "If it was CWD, it would be unprecedented to find
that many showing obvious symptoms in a short space of time," Schmidt
said.
-
- CWD, first seen in Colorado and adjoining states about
35 years ago, is always fatal in deer and has since been found in Illinois,
Wisconsin and New York. Visible signs include hair loss, emaciation, drooling
and mental aberrations.
-
- Other deer diseases also produce those symptoms.
-
- Contact ERIC SHARP at 313-222-2511 or esharp@freepress.com.
-
-
- Also CWD Update:
-
- Date: 6 Sep 2005
- From: ProMED-mail promed@promedmail.org
- Source: Canadian Food Inspection Agency News Release,
2 Sep 2005 [edited]
- http://www3.gov.ab.ca/srd/fw/diseases/CWD/index.html
-
- Mad Wild Deer Found In Alberta
-
- Alberta's ongoing chronic wasting disease (CWD) surveillance
effort has identified the disease in a wild mule deer about 30 km south
east of Oyen, Alberta. The case was confirmed today by the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency (CFIA).
-
- A member of the public observed a very thin deer, which
was subsequently collected by a Fish and Wildlife officer from Alberta
Sustainable Resource Development. Before this case, there have been 3 cases
of CWD found in game-farmed animals in Alberta, and in Saskatchewan 68
cases in wild deer and a significant number of elk found on game farms.
-
- "This is an unfortunate finding in our wild deer
population, but we are ready with a comprehensive approach to limit the
spread," stated Minister David Coutts. "As we have been doing
all the way along in managing for CWD, we will be working closely with
other departments and agencies, as well as the public and our stakeholders,
in a response to this occurrence."
-
- Although this is a serious disease for Alberta's wild
deer, and needs to be dealt with promptly, there is no known health risk
for humans. Fish and Wildlife staff will meet with local residents to ensure
they are fully informed while a step-by-step approach is taken to dealing
with this new information. A limited collection of up to 50 deer in the
immediate vicinity of the infected deer is planned for late September or
early October 2005.
-
- Surveillance for chronic wasting disease in wild deer
and elk in Alberta has been ongoing for almost 10 years, with hunter samples
being submitted over the past 7 hunting seasons and special collections
in areas of particular concern. About 6000 wild deer and elk from Alberta
have been tested for the disease with no trace being found before this
case. Alberta continues to be proactive in trying to manage CWD and is
working with other provinces and the federal government to develop a national
chronic wasting disease strategy and action plan.
-
- ProMED-mail
- promed@promedmail.org
-
- (Canada has had CWD in another province, Saskatchewan,
but this is the 1st
- report in Alberta. - Mod.TG)
-
-
- CWD/Mad Deer Found In West Virginia
-
- Date: 3 Sep 2005
- From: ProMED-mail promed@promedmail.org
- Source: West Virginia Division of Natural Resources News
Release, 2
- Sep 2005 [edited]
- http://www.wvdnr.gov/2005news/05news167.shtm
-
- Chronic Wasting Disease Found In A Hampshire County Deer
-
- The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR)
announced today [2 Sep 2005] that it has received confirmation that a road-killed
deer in Hampshire County tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).
"This is the 1st known occurrence of CWD in West Virginia," said
Director Frank Jezioro. "Upon receiving this confirmation, we initiated
our CWD Response Plan, which is designed to effectively address this important
wildlife disease issue."
-
- The CWD Response Plan is specifically designed to accomplish
the following goals:
-
- (1) determine the prevalence and the distribution of
CWD through enhanced surveillance efforts;
-
- (2) communicate and coordinate with the public and other
appropriate agencies on issues relating to CWD and the steps being taken
to respond to this disease;
-
- (3) initiate appropriate management actions necessary
to control the spread of this disease, prevent further introductions of
the disease and possibly eliminate the disease from the state.
-
- The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, in cooperation
with the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study located at the
University of Georgia's College of Veterinary Medicine, has tested 1320
free-ranging deer from West Virginia for CWD since 2002, and the Hampshire
County deer is the only animal found, thus far, to be infected with CWD.
The positive CWD sample was collected from a 2-year-old male deer in Hampshire
County as part of a long-term statewide CWD surveillance effort. The Hampshire
County deer tissue sample was 1st tested at the Southeastern Cooperative
Wildlife Disease Study in Athens, Georgia, and then confirmed as positive
for CWD by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services
Laboratories in Ames, Iowa.
-
- CWD is a neurological disease found in deer and elk,
and it belongs to a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform
encephalopathies. The disease is thought to be caused by abnormal, proteinaceous
particles, called prions, that slowly attack the brain of infected deer
and elk, causing the animals to progressively become emaciated and display
abnormal behavior, invariably resulting in the death of the infected animal.
There is no known treatment for CWD, and it is always fatal for the infected
deer or elk. It is important to note that, currently, there is no evidence
to suggest that CWD poses a risk for humans or for domestic animals.
-
- CWD was 1st recognized in 1967 in Colorado, and it subsequently
was found in captive herds in 9 states and in 2 Canadian provinces and
in free-ranging deer or elk in 9 states and one province. Earlier this
year [2005], the disease was found as far east as New York. The source
of infection for wild and captive deer and elk in new geographical areas
is unknown in many instances. While it is not known exactly how CWD is
transmitted, lateral spread from animal to animal through shedding of the
infectious agent from the digestive tract appears to be important, and
indirect transmission through environmental contamination with infective
material is likely.
-
- "While the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
certainly considers this a serious wildlife disease situation with potential
impacts on the state's important deer management program, I am confident
that our well trained and professional staff of wildlife biologists, wildlife
managers and conservation officers will meet this challenge and implement
appropriate management strategies," said Jezioro. "In addition,
we are most fortunate to have scientists and veterinarians stationed at
the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, including some of
the foremost wildlife disease experts in the world, available to assist
us in this effort."
-
- More information on CWD can be found at the West Virginia
Division of
- Natural Resources' website:
- http://www.wvdnr.gov/hunting/chronicwaste.shtm
- and the CWD Alliance website:
- http://www.cwd-info.org.
-
- Hoy Murphy, Public Information Officer
- (304) 558-3380
- hoymurphy@wvdnr.gov
- Contact: Paul Johansen , Wildlife Resources Section
- (304) 558-2771 or (304) 389-5077
- wildlife@wvdnr.gov
-
- ProMED-mail
- promed@promedmail.org
-
- Earlier this year (2005), New York announced it had found
CWD -- see ProMED
- refs. below. Now West Virginia has found it. Nearby states
will certainly step
- up their surveillance. Although this disease is a transmissible
spongiform
- encephalopathy (TSE), it has not been shown to have any
effect on humans. -
- Mod.TG
-
- [Elsevier reference:
- Hill AF & Collinge J 2003. Subclinical prion infection.
Trends in Microbiology
- 11(12): 578-584. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2003.10.007]
-
-
- Patricia A. Doyle, PhD
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at: http://www.clickitnews.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?
Cat=&Board=emergingdiseases
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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