- A federal veterinary lab in Iowa has confirmed that a
whitetail doe shot in northwest Kansas was the state's 1st wild deer found
with chronic wasting disease. Bob Mathews, Kansas Department of Wildlife
and Parks spokesman, announced the finding Monday.
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- Chronic wasting disease is 100 percent fatal within the
deer family, which includes whitetail, mule deer, elk and moose.
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- The doe was shot during the 30 Nov - 11 Dec 2005 firearms
season, near St. Francis. Tissue from the deer was taken as part of a program
that took samples from about 2000 Kansas deer last season.
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- Wildlife and Parks announced the probability of the disease
in Kansas when a preliminary test came back positive last Wednesday. They
weren't surprised.
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- First documented along the Colorado-Wyoming border in
the 1960s, in recent years the disease has shown up as far east as New
York and has annually been found in portions of Colorado and Nebraska.
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- Mathews said that during fall 2005, a diseased deer was
found 12 miles west of the Kansas-Colorado border.
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- Though there are still a lot of unknowns about the disease,
Mike Mitchener, Wildlife and Parks wildlife chief, said there's no reason
to get alarmed. "We have a contingency plan we're going to follow,"
he said. "Right now we want to make sure people are getting the right
information."
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- Q. Is chronic wasting disease fatal to humans or livestock?
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- A. No. Although it's a close relative of mad cow disease,
chronic wasting disease has never been transmitted from deer to people
or livestock.
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- Q. Can people safely eat venison?
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- A. It's not recommended that animals that test positive
for the disease be consumed, but biologists say venison is safe, especially
if handled properly.
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- Wildlife and Parks has advised hunters against cutting
through venison bones, especially near the brain and spinal column, where
the disease is located. They also suggest that hunters wear rubber gloves
when processing deer.
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- Q. Will the disease wipe out the Kansas deer herd?
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- A. Chronic wasting disease has had some localized impact
on deer herds but has never caused widespread kills.
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- Q. What negative effects could chronic wasting disease
have in Kansas?
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- A. The disease could induce some sportsmen to stop hunting
Kansas deer. Kansas deer hunting is a multimillion-dollar business.
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- Hunter numbers have remained constant in Nebraska, though,
where the disease was first diagnosed in 2000.
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- It could affect commercial elk and deer facilities, if
infected. Also, continued monitoring programs could cost Wildlife and Parks
thousands of dollars.
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- Q. Will deer in other parts of Kansas become infected?
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- A. It's unsure how the disease is contracted, though
it's probably from deer to deer, such as through saliva and urine, which
could take a long time to spread.
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- Still, chronic wasting disease has suddenly shown up
hundreds of miles away from other cases. Biologists think the spread may
have been accelerated by transportation of infected commercial deer and
elk. Such shipping is now illegal in many states.
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- Q. What does Wildlife and Parks plan to do about the
disease?
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- A. According to Mitchener, the department is finalizing
plans but more details will be released to the public within a few days.
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- Bruce Trindle, a Nebraska research biologist, said Nebraska
officials have gone immediately into an area where an infected deer was
found, killed more deer and had their tissue sampled.
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- In following seasons, Nebraska has issued more permits
and has had longer hunting seasons in diseased areas so that hunters could
monitor local deer closely.
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- http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/13696983.htm
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- Patricia A. Doyle, DVM, PhD- Bus Admin
- Tropical Agricultural Economics
- Please visit my "Emerging
Diseases" message board.
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- Also my new website:
- http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
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- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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