CWD in wild deer in NY
 

Read a story in today's news that said CWD has been found in a wild deer in NY. :(

RE: CWD in wild deer in NY
 

Have a link?

RE: CWD in wild deer in NY
 

In todays Allentown paper http://www.mcall.com/
but story not on-line yet.

RE: CWD in wild deer in NY
 

The fact that they found two deer in the wild in that area at first sounds bad, and the Monday morning quarterbacks are of course, quick to blame John, the farmer with the original herd. But, the first wild positive was an 11 month old doe, the second an adult doe, both healthy. Also, while Im not allowed to tell you what town they were found in, within a mile of each other, they were 10 miles from Johns location.

We have been told that young does seldom range far from where theyre born. Also, John is on record as having said hes received rehab deer from the area these positives were found. Makes it tough to read the negative articles about how he infected the wild deer. Just thought you guys might wanna know the truth that way.

RE: CWD in wild deer in NY
 

Bill, Thanks for the information. I saw the article in this Sunday's Buffalo News were they quoted you. I been following this since day one. Its nice to see all the information is getting out to the public finally. I know when this first started you weren't allowed to comment much on the situation so any information you provide is appreciated.

My one concern is the ability of CWD to infect humans. Working in the medical profession to little is known about this disease to say with certianty that it won't cross species. Just because it has been documented yet doesn't mean it can not happen. Certainlly history so far has shown us that it is not infective and lets all hope that it remains that way.

Robert

RE: CWD in wild deer in NY
 

Robert, Id love to speak to someone with your background on that subject. Id prefer off the boards, though. Im at 585-637-2450, if youd like to. Also, Id like to say here that the DEC and Ag and Markets has so far done a decent job of doing what needs to be done, without going nuts and doing what Wisconsin did. Thats a big plus right there.

RE: CWD in wild deer in NY
 

Bill,

Just as an FYI: You may want to look into some of the journal papers published by Miller and Ozaga. They and their students have some pretty sound data concerning dispersal rates and dispersal zones. All deer, just not bucks, disperse from the core area. To what extent really depends on 2 main criteria...food availability and population density.

If the deer population in that part of the state is near "normal", I would guestimate that the deer would disperse in regular bands, probably up to maximum 20 miles after 3 generations. Of course those bands then overlap and shift as the populations escalate...

RE: CWD in wild deer in NY
 

There are too many variables to consider dispersal without doing dna testing against parentage or other relations.

If the mother was shot during the past season, new research in the past couple years suggests that the offspring are less likely to disperse, and remain in the area they were born.

It may have been Ozaga or possibly Alscheimer that did that research.

The end of line is dna testing, it is the only way they will find out. And I am sure they will do that if deemed necessary.

RE: CWD in wild deer in NY
 

Well guys, Im a big John Ozoga fan, but Im going to sound stubborn. I just dont believe that yearling does in that area need to disperse ten miles. Maybe bucks. I know, Im no biologist, but its my opinion. Regardless of that, I made my statement in my last post based on what NY tells us about dispersal, not my personal opinion. The main point Im making is, this whole situation has become a finger-pointing process from my perspective, and I dont think the evidence is so clear. Sorry if some of what I drag into our conversations here didnt originate here!

RE: CWD in wild deer in NY
 

Bill,

You're absolutely right. The dispersal rates, or bands, coincide with both age and density. If the population rates are high, the dispersal distance is great. If the population densities are low, dispersal rates are usually less, but do vary greatly based on food.

Big question here is: where did the wild deer first encounter the prions? Was it shared food/feeding area, or is this a bigger problem? Limited number of infected wild deer suggest, to me, that it was an isolated incident and there must have been some sort of shared contact. Obviously doe/fawn interaction is obvious...