"Mad" Deer and Elk--CWD

[Richard Myers]

The following is not good news. It presents evidence that we have to be concerned about bodily fluids in regards to spongiform diseases. This has implications for our health when at the doctors, dentists, etc.

In summary, we confirm prionsialia in CWD-affected deer by bioassay in cervidized mice and demonstrate for the first time infectious prions in the urine of these cervids by both bioassay and sPMCA. We are currently evaluating urine and saliva from individual animals in hopes of identifying predisposing factors, such as genotypic background and underlying pathology, which may contribute to prionuria and prionsialia. Concurrently, we have begun to explore the tissue origins and protease sensitivity of the infectious prions as well as the onset and duration of shedding in these bodily fluids.
Nicholas J. Haley1, Davis M. Seelig1, Mark D. Zabel1, Glenn C. Telling2, Edward A. Hoover1*

1 Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America, 2 Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, United States of America

[Richard Myers]

Few are concerned and even fewer understand the importance of the spread of this disease. But, it continues to broaden its infectivity.

Where has CWD been found?

To date, the disease has only been found in deer, elk, and moose in North America. CWD is known to occur in free-ranging deer, elk, or moose in Alberta, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. CWD also has been diagnosed in captive deer and elk in Alberta, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and most recently in Michigan.

As of January 20, 2010, CWD has been detected and confirmed in one deer in Virginia. It was a female deer killed by a hunter in November 2009. It was taken in Frederick County on private land less than 1 mile from West Virginia, west of Gore, Virginia. This is within 10 miles of where CWD was discovered in Hampshire County, West Virginia in 2005. While this is Virginia's first case, Hampshire County, West Virginia has had a total of 62 deer detected with CWD (see their January 15, 2010 update on West Virginia DNR's website).

[Richard Myers]

CHEYENNE - Two deer harvested on Oct. 15 in deer hunt areas 47 and 51 in the Bighorn Basin have tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a brain disease known to affect some deer, elk and moose.  One deer, a mule deer buck, was harvested in area 47 in the Durphy Gulch area.  The other CWD positive, a white-tailed doe, was harvested in area 51 near the Horse Creek/Shell Valley Road.

                Personnel at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department Laboratory analyzed samples taken as part of the department's annual CWD survey and discovered positive results for the two deer.

          After a review of available scientific data, the World Health Organization in December 1999 stated, "There is currently no evidence that CWD in cervidae (deer and elk) is transmitted to humans." In 2004, Dr. Ermias Belay of the Center for Disease Control said, "The lack of evidence of a link between CWD transmission and unusual cases of CJD, (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a human prion disease) despite several epidemiological investigations, suggest that the risk, if any, of transmission of CWD to humans is low." Nonetheless to avoid risk, both organizations say parts or products from any animal that looks sick and/or tests positive for CWD should not be eaten.
           For more information on chronic wasting disease visit the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website at www.cwd-info.org.  Wyoming Fish and Game

Notice the difference in statements.  Now there is some attempt to cover their intelligent assessment by expressing the thought that it is not good to eat the flesh of these animals.   Anyone with a iota of common sense would think it foolish to eat the flesh of a sick animal much less one that may have Mad Deer Disease. 

The disease, CWD, continues to spread from the original area of infection.  And, it is also noted that deer and elk in captivity in many areas are coming down with CWD.  You don't suppose it has something to do with the human prepared diet for these poor creatures?  Do you think they are putting animal protein in the feed?

[Richard Myers]

We continue to report on CWD because it is spreading rapidly.  It endangers deer and elk and other species including humans. It infects the ground the deer travel on therefore we all ought to be concerned. Some do not understand how dangerous this and other prion diseases are. The human feeding of these animals needs to be stopped. There is a large crisis on the horizon in Wyoming. Yellowstone National Park has a large elk herd that is a sitting target for this disease. According to elk biologist Bruce L.Smith, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service researcher who spent 22 years at the National Elk Refuge, it is in danger. 
The refuge is a reservoir that continues
to fuel the prevalence of brucellosis
and is a sitting duck for the arrival
of a pathogen more frightening —
chronic wasting disease, the prion-related
scourge that some have labeled
Mad Deer and Mad Elk disease.
In the middle of “Where The Elk
Roam,” Smith recalls public comments
he delivered at a CWD forum
in Jackson back in 2004:
“When I began talking about the
threat of CWD arriving at the National
Elk Refuge and adjacent Wyoming
elk feedgrounds, my concern was generally
met with three reactions: apathy,
denial that such a thing would
ever happen, or anger that I dared
suggest such a far-fetched notion.”
Had he worked for the state, he
surely would have been muzzled. He
points out how outfi tters, who insist
on propping up elk herds using artifi -
cial feed, continue to advance the fairy
tale that absence of proof equates to
absence of risk.
Indeed, in recent weeks amid reporting
in the News&Guide on
the threats that unnaturally
congregating elk represent
for wildlife health
and the integrity of the
ecosystem, state offi cials
continue to imply CWD
will never get here.
Smith calls attention
to an absurdity — that
while Wyoming continues
to check tissue samples
collected from harvested
big game to see if CWD
has arrived, it doesn’t halt the practices
that could turn a CWD spark
into an inferno.
“If the worst should happen, chronic
wasting disease would create 23 hot
spots [the elk r.efuge plus the number
of state-run feedgrounds] for infection
of cervids throughout the Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem,” he writes, noting
that Wyoming would be given a
black eye for helping to spread CWD
to adjacent states.
“Wyoming’s obduracy would earn
national media attention as diseased
animals are euthanized to
stem the spread of disease,” he adds.
“To those who pooh-pooh this scenario
and trumpet the benefi ts of
artifi cially maintaining elk, the rejoinder
is simple: better a smaller
elk herd than an overstocked range
riddled with disease.”
source

[Richard Myers]

We love deer and elk. We also want a good economy. But, our main concern with the spread of CWD is that of human health.  To date, it appears that none of the government health agencies are doing anything about the spread of CWD.  The government agencies are still saying that there is no evidence that CWD can be transmitted to humans. Neither is there any evidence that it cannot. We know that it can be transmitted by urine and that prions survive in the soil.

But, there is concern by some that the spread needs to be stopped. What is the concern?  The economic impact on commercial captive herds.  This is probably where the disease began by the feeding of food made from other animals. 

"U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) urged the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take smart steps to implement a new rule that could help states battle Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) among deer. The occurrence of the disease, which is akin to Mad Cow disease among deer, has concerned many across the state. Annually, Pennsylvania deer and elk farms pump $40 million into the state’s economy.....In addition to their importance to the Commonwealth’s ecosystem, deer and elk are important to Pennsylvania’s economy. For example, Pennsylvania ranks second among States for annual deer and elk farm sales, totaling $40 million per year. Deer and elk hunting also has a substantial effect on the State’s economy. CWD threatens the deer and elk species as well as the sustainability of these industries. It is imperative that Federal, State and local officials continue to work together to address this alarming disease."  Senator Robert Casey's Website

[Richard Myers]

How long before the deer in your area will spread spongiform disease?  It continues to spread throughout the US. It was just found in Texas for the first time.  Are they in your garden?

Samples from two mule deer recently taken in far West Texas have been confirmed positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). These are the first cases of CWD detected in Texas deer. Wildlife officials believe the event is currently isolated in a remote part of the state near the New Mexico border. source

They are saying that it is good news that it the disease is isolated to one area in Texas. That may be true, but if it is, it will not remain isolated to one area.  The infected Mad Deer and Elk are now in 19 states.  One could say they are "isolated" in these 19 states, but that would be a lie. They are not isolated at all. They continue to spread to other states. If testing were done on a higher level, the infection would probably be found in more states already. But, like the BSE testing, it is very minimal.

[Richard Myers]

Is there a lesson for us in the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (Mad Deer and Elk Disease)?  I think so. It is spreading across the US. If we cannot stop the spread of CWD, how will we stop the spread of Mad Cow Disease (BSE) or Mad Human Disease (CJD)?  We are not stopping it. If Alzheimer's proves to be a spongiform type disease, we already have a major outbreak.

What is the news today on CWD? Another state has been infected.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission today confirmed three hunter-killed deer taken in the 2012 general firearms deer season have tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). Two were from Blair County; the other was from Bedford County.

“These are the first positive cases of CWD in free-ranging deer in Pennsylvania,” confirmed Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe. “The disease was first documented in early October, 2012, by the state Department of Agriculture in a captive deer on an Adams County deer farm.”  Penn Game Commission

[Richard Myers]

Missouri wants to "be a leader in providing a tiny population of rich folks the opportunity to shoot genetically mutated, giant bucks behind a fence." source

The concern expressed in the article is justified,  but notice the issue is not human health, but the economics of the matter. How very sad, while disease is spreading among the deer and elk, so it is spreading among those who eat the deer and elk. Then, they become a danger to the rest of society. Prion diseases cross the specie barrier.
 

[colporteur]

So called big game hunters that buy and then shoot fenced in trophy bucks to hang on the wall and brag about make me sick. I place them in about the category as pedophiles. Sorry, I know that sounds radical and is a bit off topic but you hit my trigger.

[Richard Myers]

It is a sad day for our friends in Michigan. The state has been free of CWD in wild cervids. There are now two deer that have been found in the wild with chronic wasting disease (mad deer, elk, moose disease).

May 26, 2015

The Michigan departments of Natural Resources (DNR) and Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) today confirmed that a free-ranging deer in Meridian Township (Ingham County) has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and moose. This is the first time the disease has been found in Michigan’s free-ranging deer population. In 2008 a white-tailed deer from a privately owned cervid (POC) facility in Kent County tested positive for CWD.

The animal was observed last month wandering around a Meridian Township residence and showing signs of illness. The homeowner contacted the Meridian Township Police Department, who then sent an officer to euthanize the animal. The deer was collected by a DNR wildlife biologist and delivered for initial testing to the DNR Wildlife Disease Laboratory at the Michigan State University Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health in Lansing, Michigan. After initial tests were positive, samples were forwarded to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, for final confirmation. The Michigan DNR received that positive confirmation last week.

To date, there is no evidence that chronic wasting disease presents any risk to non-cervids, including humans, either through contact with an infected animal or from handling contaminated venison. However, as a precaution, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization recommend that infected animals not be consumed as food by either humans or domestic animals.

“This is the first case of chronic wasting disease to be confirmed in a free-ranging Michigan white-tailed deer,” said DNR Director Keith Creagh.

Keep deer out of your garden area. Prions infect the soil and can be picked up by plants.

[Richard Myers]

Michigan DNR.......FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2015

Michigan confirms chronic wasting disease in second free-ranging
white-tailed deer

The Michigan departments of Natural Resources (DNR) and Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) have confirmed a second free-ranging deer in Meridian Township (Ingham County) has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and moose. This second case is a 2-year-old male found less than a mile from the initial positive female deer, confirmed this past May. Genetic testing is being conducted to see if the two deer are related.

“Finding this second positive deer is disappointing, however, not unexpected,” said DNR Wildlife Division Chief Russ Mason. “We will continue with our aggressive surveillance throughout the summer and fall. With the assistance of hunters, we hope to determine the distribution of this disease.”

[colporteur]

“This is the first case of chronic wasting disease to be confirmed in a free-ranging Michigan white-tailed deer,” said DNR Director Keith Creagh. [/color]

Keep deer out of your garden area. Prions infect the soil and can be picked up by plants.

I'm going to have to replace my sign in the garden " Free deer lunch" and replace it with "Jade Helm Hostile Territory, the Buck Stops Here .... but No  Longer.. No Doe will do....... do ." 

It is not an easy thing to keep deer out of the garden. The Lord will have to come soon.

[JimB]

To date, there is no evidence that chronic wasting disease presents any risk to non-cervids, including humans, either through contact with an infected animal or from handling contaminated venison.

No evidence? hmmm... possibly because it's new enough to not completely understand how it works and/or is transmitted. Probably because there has not been a study on CWD in Michigan? How can they say such thing? Wouldn't it be better to sound the alarm and then if further testing turns out ok then announce that it's safe. It seems to me that they have things backwards. How many of thier relatives and friends are they willing to risk? This is odd because then they turn around and warn people from eating it.

How many people this fall who shoot a deer are going to have it tested?

[colporteur]

To date, there is no evidence that chronic wasting disease presents any risk to non-cervids, including humans, either through contact with an infected animal or from handling contaminated venison.

No evidence? hmmm... possibly because it's new enough to not completely understand how it works and/or is transmitted. Probably because there has not been a study on CWD in Michigan? How can they say such thing? Wouldn't it be better to sound the alarm and then if further testing turns out ok then announce that it's safe. It seems to me that they have things backwards. How many of thier relatives and friends are they willing to risk? This is odd because then they turn around and warn people from eating it.

How many people this fall who shoot a deer are going to have it tested?

Hunting tags and all the deer hunting paraphernalia is big business. Been there done that.

[Richard Myers]

The minister of health in the UK said mad cows would not transmit disease to humans. After all, there was no evidence that  it would.  And, there is no evidence Leukemia in dairy will infect humans with Leukemia. Why is there no evidence of such things? Because as a USDA research scientist told me "we do not do testing on humans".  Well....by allowing humans to eat diseased animals, we indeed are testing them. The problem with cancer and spongiform diseases is the incubation period can  be very long. One day before too long, we shall find out that these diseases and Alzheimer's do not  just happen, they are coming from animals when humans eat their flesh or their eggs and milk.

[colporteur]

Michigan DNR.......FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2015



The Michigan departments of Natural Resources (DNR) and Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) have confirmed a second free-ranging deer in Meridian Township (Ingham County) has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and moose. This second case is a 2-year-old male found less than a mile from the initial positive female deer, confirmed this past May. Genetic testing is being conducted to see if the two deer are related.

“Finding this second positive deer is disappointing, however, not unexpected,” said DNR Wildlife Division Chief Russ Mason. “We will continue with our aggressive surveillance throughout the summer and fall. With the assistance of hunters, we hope to determine the distribution of this disease.”

This must be getting serious in Michigan. My wife worked with the DNR there a few years ago and the DNR knew the deer population was infected then. About 10 years ago in the neighboring state of Wisconsin the DNR shot 160,000 infected deer in that state. Deer cross state lines.

[Richard Myers]

cp, that figure does not sound right. Are you saying infected with CWD?  Or some other disease? CWD is moving out of the midwest to the rest of the States. It is very serious because it poses a very real threat to humans.

[JimB]

New evidence about chronic wasting disease leads health officials to reconsider their advice

Canada’s leading pathologist on mad cow disease shook up the deer hunting world this year when she delivered to an international gathering of prion disease experts an alarming study with implications for human exposure to chronic wasting disease (CWD).

By feeding moderate amounts of diseased venison to macaques monkeys over a period of years, Dr. Stefanie Czub found what no one wanted her to find: CWD can be transmitted to non-human primates who are genetically close to humans. Source

[colporteur]

cp, that figure does not sound right. Are you saying infected with CWD?  Or some other disease? CWD is moving out of the midwest to the rest of the States. It is very serious because it poses a very real threat to humans.

CWD and TB. Are you thinking it was higher or lower.

[Richard Myers]

Cp, Chronic Wasting Disease has not infected that many dear in the whole US from what I have seen. It is rapidly expanding, but so far the numbers are still relatively low.