CWD; Here it comes WI.
03-12-2004, 07:50 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: CWD Central, WI.
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CWD; Here it comes WI.
New Test Hints Cwd In 14 More Counties
The Capital Times :: METRO :: 1B
Thursday, March 11, 2004
By Robert Imrie Associated Press
WAUSAU
The state Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory found preliminary indicators of chronic wasting disease in wild deer in more than a dozen additional counties using a new testing method approved by the federal government, according to state records The Associated Press reviewed.
However, the results of the new testing -- designed only to screen for the disease, not officially diagnose it -- could not be confirmed with a second test considered the "gold standard" for diagnosing CWD.
Thus, the state Department of Natural Resources has added no new counties to the list of eight with confirmed cases of the always-fatal brain disease.
A landowners group critical of the DNR's handling of the disease says hunters should be told deer are testing positive for the disease with one test but not the other, giving them the most complete information in deciding whether to eat the venison.
Citizens and Landowners for a Rational Response believes the results of the new testing likely provide early evidence that CWD is more widespread across the state, said spokesman Mark Peck, a landowner from Arena.
"We have two testing regimens in the state, of which we are coming up with differing results," Peck told The Associated Press. "As a hunting enthusiast ... I would like to know which one we can put our stock in."
The screening test is designed to produce some false positive results so no animals with the disease are missed, DNR wildlife veterinarian Julie Langenberg said.
Still, Langenberg acknowledges "there's a possibility" the new test is detecting some deer at an earlier stage of the disease.
The DNR found chronic wasting disease in three bucks shot near Mount Horeb in 2002, marking the first time it was found east of the Mississippi River.
The disease threatens Wisconsin's annual $1 billion deer hunting industry because health experts warn no part of a diseased deer should be eaten. There is no scientific evidence the disease, discovered in Colorado in 1967, can infect people.
Testing so far found 316 wild deer with the disease in eight southern counties -- Columbia, Dane, Iowa, Kenosha, Richland, Rock, Sauk and Walworth, the DNR reports.
According to state documents the AP reviewed, deer that tested positive on the new IDEXX screening test were found in 14 additional counties -- Chippewa, Crawford, Dodge, Eau Claire, Grant, Jefferson, Lafayette, Manitowoc, Marinette, Marquette, Portage, Taylor, Vernon and Waukesha.
Marinette County is some 200 miles north of Mount Horeb.
Dr. Mark Hall, head of pathology at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, said the IDEXX test is certified by the USDA as only accurate enough as a screening tool.
Chronic wasting disease can only be confirmed by the "gold standard" -- or immunohistochemisty -- test, which has been used for more than 20 years, he said.
A positive IDEXX test detects abnormal proteins, or prions, which cause chronic wasting disease. It does not necessarily mean the deer is in the disease's early stages, but "clearly, that is a possibility," Hall said. "My best science tells me that those animals do not have evidence of the disease sufficient to make the diagnosis."
The Capital Times :: METRO :: 1B
Thursday, March 11, 2004
By Robert Imrie Associated Press
WAUSAU
The state Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory found preliminary indicators of chronic wasting disease in wild deer in more than a dozen additional counties using a new testing method approved by the federal government, according to state records The Associated Press reviewed.
However, the results of the new testing -- designed only to screen for the disease, not officially diagnose it -- could not be confirmed with a second test considered the "gold standard" for diagnosing CWD.
Thus, the state Department of Natural Resources has added no new counties to the list of eight with confirmed cases of the always-fatal brain disease.
A landowners group critical of the DNR's handling of the disease says hunters should be told deer are testing positive for the disease with one test but not the other, giving them the most complete information in deciding whether to eat the venison.
Citizens and Landowners for a Rational Response believes the results of the new testing likely provide early evidence that CWD is more widespread across the state, said spokesman Mark Peck, a landowner from Arena.
"We have two testing regimens in the state, of which we are coming up with differing results," Peck told The Associated Press. "As a hunting enthusiast ... I would like to know which one we can put our stock in."
The screening test is designed to produce some false positive results so no animals with the disease are missed, DNR wildlife veterinarian Julie Langenberg said.
Still, Langenberg acknowledges "there's a possibility" the new test is detecting some deer at an earlier stage of the disease.
The DNR found chronic wasting disease in three bucks shot near Mount Horeb in 2002, marking the first time it was found east of the Mississippi River.
The disease threatens Wisconsin's annual $1 billion deer hunting industry because health experts warn no part of a diseased deer should be eaten. There is no scientific evidence the disease, discovered in Colorado in 1967, can infect people.
Testing so far found 316 wild deer with the disease in eight southern counties -- Columbia, Dane, Iowa, Kenosha, Richland, Rock, Sauk and Walworth, the DNR reports.
According to state documents the AP reviewed, deer that tested positive on the new IDEXX screening test were found in 14 additional counties -- Chippewa, Crawford, Dodge, Eau Claire, Grant, Jefferson, Lafayette, Manitowoc, Marinette, Marquette, Portage, Taylor, Vernon and Waukesha.
Marinette County is some 200 miles north of Mount Horeb.
Dr. Mark Hall, head of pathology at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, said the IDEXX test is certified by the USDA as only accurate enough as a screening tool.
Chronic wasting disease can only be confirmed by the "gold standard" -- or immunohistochemisty -- test, which has been used for more than 20 years, he said.
A positive IDEXX test detects abnormal proteins, or prions, which cause chronic wasting disease. It does not necessarily mean the deer is in the disease's early stages, but "clearly, that is a possibility," Hall said. "My best science tells me that those animals do not have evidence of the disease sufficient to make the diagnosis."
