# Five new cases of CWD in WI deer on April 2



## Tom Morang (Aug 14, 2001)

From the WDNR


http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/news/on/index.htm#art1



Five new cases of Chronic Wasting Disease
in white-tailed deer reported on April 2

MADISON ? State wildlife officials received word today that five additional free-ranging deer have tested positive for chronic wasting disease in the Mt. Horeb area of Dane County. This brings the total of known CWD ? diseased deer in the area to ten. The results are the latest to be returned from laboratory analysis of a planned 500 deer sample now being collected.

Wildlife and veterinary experts stress that they won?t be making any decisions on how to proceed in managing this disease outbreak until all sample tests are completed and analyzed.

Since the effort to collect 500 deer began on March 5, a total of 197 samples from the surveillance area have been tested.

Late yesterday, officials also received word that a deer displaying outward CWD-like symptoms which was shot just outside the surveillance area a little over a week ago was, in fact, negative for CWD.

The newest positive samples came from Sections 16 and 18 in the Town of Vermont about five miles northwest of Mt. Horeb; from Section 19 in the Town of Black Earth, about 1.5 miles southwest of the Village of Mazomanie; Section 31 in the Town of Arena about 4 miles southwest of Arena and Section 31 in the Town of Berry about 4 miles west of Cross Plains. All of the new positive findings are within approximately five miles of original discovery of CWD in western Dane County.

CWD is a neurologic disease of deer and elk. It belongs to the family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases. It attacks the brains of infected deer and elk causing the animals to become emaciated, display abnormal behavior, lose bodily functions and die.

Following the discovery on February 28 of three CWD-positive deer killed by hunters in the Mt. Horeb area during the 2001 gun deer hunt, wildlife officials immediately launched an effort to collect 500 deer for testing to determine the extent of the infection in the wild deer herd. The sample area covers a 415 square mile surveillance area around the site where the infected deer were found. To date, 414 deer have been collected. Landowners have provided most of the deer killed for testing. The only recognized test for CWD requires brain stem tissue necessitating killing of the animal.

"The sample size was set and spread out geographically to give us an idea of where the infection might be centered and how far it?s spread," said DNR veterinarian Dr. Sarah Shapiro-Hurley. "The size of the sample will give us some statistically reliable data we can use to plan our next steps. This is a communicable disease among deer and based on the experiences of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska where it already exists in wild herds, it can be expected to spread."

As for when the rest of the sample results would be available, officials said they will just have to wait patiently.

"We?re all waiting for the rest of the samples to be processed but that will take some time," said Shapiro-Hurley. "We appreciate the efforts of the USDA-National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames to expedite processing of our samples, but we can?t say for sure when the additional results will come to us."

The state Departments of Natural Resources (DNR), Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection (DATCP) and Health and Family Services (DHFS) formed an interagency task force to investigate the disease in Wisconsin. DNR has been testing annually for CWD in wild deer since 1999. Over 1000 deer have been tested so far with all results negative until now.

Department of Natural Resources wildlife managers and landowners will continue to collect deer until the 500 deer sample goal is met. With landowner consent, state officials have made authorized shooting teams available to assist landowners in the surveillance area with collecting the necessary number of deer.

The Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection is taking steps to increase monitoring and surveillance of captive deer and elk within the state for CWD.

"DATCP has banned deer and elk imports from other states unless they come from herds that can document that they have been CWD-free for at least five years," says DATCP assistant state veterinarian Dr. Bob Ehlenfeldt. "Currently, very few if any herds in the United States have been tested long enough to meet that standard. DATCP initiated a voluntary monitoring program for captive elk and deer in 1998."

CWD has been known to occur in deer and elk in the USA for decades. In spite of ongoing surveillance for similar disease syndromes in humans, there has never been an instance of people contracting a disease from butchering or eating meat from CWD-infected animals. A World Health Organization (WHO) panel of experts reviewed all the available information on CWD and concluded that there is no scientific evidence that CWD can infect humans. However, there is much that scientists still do not know about CWD, and one cannot state that transmission of CWD to humans is absolutely impossible.

A map of the sampling area is available on the DNR Web site.

More information on Chronic Wasting Disease is also available on the DNR Web site.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Hauge (608) 266-2193, Sarah Shapiro-Hurley (608) 267-7472, Bob Manwell (608) 264-9248, Carl Batha (608) 935-1945


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## Tom Morang (Aug 14, 2001)

Cases of chronic wasting infection detected in state now total 10

By MEG JONES of the Journal Sentinel staff Last Updated: April 3, 2002

Five more white-tailed deer have tested positive for chronic wasting disease in Wisconsin, bringing the total number to 10, authorities said Tuesday.

Testing at an Iowa lab of 123 brain tissue samples revealed five deer had the disease, said Sarah Shapiro Hurley, a Department of Natural Resources veterinarian.

Last week, the DNR learned that two samples from an initial batch tested positive for the ailment.

The DNR is collecting tissue samples from 500 deer shot in an 11-mile radius near Mount Horeb, where three deer killed during last fall's gun-deer season were found to be afflicted with the illness, which is similar to mad cow disease.

As of Tuesday afternoon, samples from 415 deer had been collected. Aside from three batches of tissue samples that already have been tested, Wisconsin wildlife biologists sent samples Monday and Tuesday to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.

Authorities did not know what to expect from the tests and did not have any idea how many, if any, deer would be afflicted with chronic wasting disease, Shapiro Hurley said.

"It's sort of been a journey of discovery for us," Shapiro Hurley said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Between 3% and 4% of samples have been positive, she said, "so in that regard, it wasn't totally surprising to find (that number) in the second and third batches. It was about the same (percentage) as our original hunter kill last year."

After aerial surveys to figure out how many deer are in the area, authorities drew a circle around the spot where the three infected deer were shot last fall. Landowners and teams of sharpshooters are shooting one to three deer from each section within the 415-square-mile area.

Of the five deer that tested positive in the most recent tissue samples, two were killed just north of the epicenter, one was found four miles northeast, one was five miles north, and one was six miles northwest.

Until test results are finished on the 500 deer, Shapiro Hurley said, no decisions will be made on what happens next, "so we've got a good idea of where the distribution is and not jump to some conclusion."

Chronic wasting disease attacks the brains of infected deer and elk, causing them to become emaciated and eventually die. It belongs to the family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

In a related development Tuesday, Democrats who control the state Senate voted to use up to $1 million in DNR funds to test for chronic wasting disease in the state's deer herd and to allow state and federal employees to shoot deer from vehicles to test for the disease. The money would come from funds paid farmers for crop losses caused by animals.

Sen. Jim Baumgart (D-Sheboygan) said the $1 million in state funds may not be needed if federal funds requested by the governor for the possible emergency are approved.

The funding was approved by Senate Democrats as they met in caucus Tuesday to continue to work on a budget adjustment bill. The bill needs to be approved by the full Senate and Assembly, and ultimately signed into law by Gov. Scott McCallum.

Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on April 3, 2002.


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## sadocf1 (Mar 10, 2002)

Mad Cow ( Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ) in Great Britain resulted from the feeding of ruminant protein (rendered sheep and cattle) back to ruminants-cattle. 
Could it be possible that CWD, a transmissable spongiform encephalopathy of deer and elk,both wild and captive, could have originated in a similiar fashion.
Scrapie, a TSE of sheep, was believed to have crossed the species barrier causing the MAD Cow epidemic.
Scrapie has been endemic in the US sheep population for the past 50-odd years. The western states have many large flocks of sheep that have pastured the BLM Lands.
Animal protein and bone meal derived from sheep offal have been added to pelleted feeds and mineral mixtures fed to both wild and captive deer and elk.
In 1999 Wyoming had 1 federal and 22 state elk winter feeding grounds
Could sheep scrapie have crossed the species barrier to cause CWD??
Michigan hunters bring back deer and elk from western states.
Is it not possible, if even one of these animals were infected, that the infection could be brought into Michigan ??
The FDA has banned the feeding of ruminant protein back to ruminants - cattle, sheep, goats, deer and elk- but it can be fed to swine and poultry. Swine and poultry protein can be fed back to ruminants. They have only a few inspectors to check the many rendering and animal feed companies.
Can we say that it is safe to feed pelleted feeds containing animal protein and mineral mixtures containing bone meal to deer and elk???


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## Fierkej (Dec 21, 2001)

Hi,
Here's a link to the scrapie information at MDA
http://www.michigan.gov/mda/1,1607,7-125-1567_1601_7094-12465--,00.html

And information from the US Food and Drug Administration about regulations to prevent BSE, regulations on feed ingredients
http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/bse.html

Jean


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