An incurable contagious brain disease that is deadly for deer, moose and moose continues to stalk the country. By 2015 it was extensive to 23 states and two Canadian province since it was first identified in a Colorado Captive Mule Deer Research Center in 1967.
Now, with the first case of the state of Washington of chronic wasted disease confirmed in an adult female white -tailed deer found dead to the north of Spokane, the disease, CWD, is identified in 35 states and 6 Canadian provinces.
In other recent news, an Indiana County reports its first case of chronic waste disease (CWD), less than a year after the first detection of the state.
A 2.5-year-old white-tailed box in Posey County tested positively after he was harvested by a hunter.
Regarding the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, it is also announced a few weeks ago that his second and third cases of CWD had been discovered on a moose feedground – both detected in cow carcasses in the Dell Creek Feedground in the Bondurant area.
CWD travels
This is a disease that does not remain. It was found in South Korea; In free -leaving reindeer, moose and red deer in Norway; In free moose in Finland; And in free -running Moose Sweden.
Caused by deformed proteins called praws, it can be confirmed by testing lymph nodes or brain tissue, at the base of the skull. The lymph nodes of the deer that tested positive in Oost -Washington in July were presented to the Washington Animal Disease Laboratory in Pullman at Washington State University.
Much smaller than bacteria, prions are some proteins that cannot be destroyed by typical “death strategies” such as extreme heat or ultraviolet light.
There is no vaccine or healing for this disease. It is spread by urine, droppings, saliva, blood, sperm, deer parts, and especially through living deer. Not only that, plants and roots can bind, record and transport infectious prions. And plants that have been infected with the prions could convey the disease when animals were given the polluted plants.
This is a disease that scientists have been surprised for decades. Where did it come from and why does it spread across the landscape?
“” Our biggest challenge is to try to minimize its spread. “said Melia T. Devivo, the leadership of the Washington State Fish and Wildlife Department for his CWD program,
How do you know if an animal has CWD
Drastic weight loss, stumbling and lack of coordination, drooling, excessive thirst or urination, hanging ears and lack of fear of people are signs that an animal is infected with CWD. No wonder some people refer to the infected animals such as ‘zombie -ure’.
But Devivo said that because it takes so long – sometimes a few years – before the disease becomes visible in an animal, some animals with CWD look healthy. It is not seasonal by illness all year round.
Because CWD slowly moves through a population and because it slowly kills the individual deer, its impact is not dramatic or fast, which is why some hunters believe that CWD is not a serious problem.
However, CWD will gradually grow in prevalence if it is not actively managed, and it will ultimately reduce the populations.
“CWD is the biggest threat to the future of deer show,” says Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership On the website Go to the website to see how fast the disease has spread over the United States since 1968.
Where is it?
Go here To see the regions in the US where CWD has been confirmed.
Deer and other Cervids – members of the deer family – must be tested in those regions and also slaughtered according to the constitutional rules.
What about food safety?
Although no cases of transfer to people have been reported, the Centers for Disease Control recommend that you do not consume meat from a CWD positive deer. And the National Deer Association encourages all hunters to adhere to the guidelines of the agency with regard to the handling or consumption of deer of CWD Positive Deer.
According to CDC, the risky parts include the brain, eyes, backbone and spleen.
That is why it is important to bone your harvest to prevent sensitive parts of the deer that can transport CWD.
Boots on the ground: how hunters can help
Go here For any advice from the National Deer Association on how hunters can help prevent the spread of CWD.
• Know if you are hunting in a CWD management zone where the disease was found or will travel to hunt in a CWD zone. This is simple, crucial knowledge that helps you to learn and follow regulations and guidelines that are designed to prevent CWD spread from these zones.
• If you hunt in a CWD zone, you must enter all harvested deer at the state office for CWD tests (and wait for satisfactory results before you consume the deer). Testing helps the agency to monitor the prevalence and location of the disease, which is crucial information for protecting the deer source and hunting.
• If you hunt in a CWD zone, throw deer carcasses into the zone after the recommendations of the nature agency of that state. Leave the zone only behind with vast meat, antlers connected to clean skull plates, clean skins or clean jaw beans/teeth. Most states now forbid the import of entire deer carcasses and maintain these laws.
• If you kill a deer that positive test for CWD, that is a good thing. You have removed an infected deer from the forest, which helps fight the disease. Don’t let it bring you down. Collect your replacement tag of the State Wildlife Agency, keep hunting and keep testing the deer that you harvest.
• If you do not hunt in a CWD zone, but your state agencies of the State ask you to voluntarily submit deer for CWD tests, respond to the call for help. Submit your deer for testing. Early discovery of new CWD outbreaks is crucial to reduce the impact.
• Report sick deer immediately to your state office for Wildlife. Whether you see or harvest a deer that seems unhealthy, the state’s office of the state may want to investigate and test the deer. Early detection of CWD is very important, so don’t hesitate to report sick deer.
• Harvesting a suitable number to maintain the balance between deer density and availability of feed crops where you hunt. Diseases that spread on deer such as CWD move slower over the landscape in healthy deer densities.
Devivo said that CWD is most common in Buck Deer, simply because Buck Deer has a larger home range than does, and they have more contact with other deer because of breeding and fighting with other dollars.
• Contact your state office for information for information, even if you do not hunt for a CWD zone. Register for the E-newsletter of the Bureau, follow them on social media and live public hearings when offered when offered. Stay informed of all animals in the wild in your state, including deer health and hunting regulations.
What about ‘prisoner’ Cervid Farms
Sometimes called ‘deer farms’, the Cervid facilities are on private ownership. There are more than 10,000 breeding and shooting facilities in the prisoner in North America.
According to a study by Texas A & M University, they are “perhaps the fastest growing industry in the countryside of America.”
The industry includes increasing indigenous or exotic uterus that are sold for things such as antlers, meat, breeding and even urine, which is used as an attraction. In some cases, artificial breeding is used to produce larger womb and antlers that produce good prices.
When it comes to CWD, it is particularly disturbing that these activities often the animals to locations in North America, which increases the risk of spreading the disease to other locations.
Then, also, because they are often raised in dense populations, there is more risk that CWD spread has an animal. And although the animals are fenced, they “escape” sometimes and they come into contact with wild cervids. There is also the possible problem of “Hek-Tot-Hek” contact between prisoner and wild womb.
The annual estimated economic impact of the Cervid industry in Minnesota was $ 17 million, with an estimated 1,287 jobs supported by this industry.
However, economic losses vary on the flip size of the currency due to the impact of CWD on the prisoner Cervid industry for places such as Alberta, Canada, of $ 12 million (for prevention measures such as improving fencing) to hundreds of millions (for compensation by the government for depopulation).
“The impact of CWD on the prisoner industry is not a future problem, but a growing and continuous reality,” says the report.
Go here For more information about Cervid Farms in captivity.
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