More CWD discovered in PA
 

PGC NEWS LETTER
05/11/2016
TWELVE MORE CASES OF CWD IN PENNSYLVANIA: STATE GEARS UP FOR ADDITIONAL CONTROL MEASURES

HARRISBURG, PA - The Pennsylvania Game Commission during 2015 found 12 additional white-tailed deer infected with chronic wasting disease (CWD) – all in Disease Management Area 2 (DMA 2), located in southcentral Pennsylvania.

DMA 2 is the only area of the state where CWD has been detected in free-ranging deer.

The latest cases bring to 22 the total number of free-ranging deer found with CWD within DMA 2 since 2012. This is the highest number of cases to be found in a single year, and more than doubles the total number of CWD-positive deer found in the wild in Pennsylvania.

These new cases have resulted in changes to DMA 2’s boundaries, increasing the size of the DMA by more than 437 square miles. A map showing the latest expansion to DMA 2 has been posted online and will be included in the 2016-17 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest that’s issued to hunters at the time the buy their licenses. However, hunters are reminded that future CWD cases could further impact DMA 2’s boundary, and the most up-to-date maps always can be found at the Game Commission’s website.
Special rules regarding the hunting, transport and feeding of wild deer apply within all DMAs, and are detailed in full online.

One of the new cases was found in a deer harvested by a hunter. It serves as an example of why hunters need to be taking the DMA restrictions seriously. The hunter in the case transported a buck that later tested positive for CWD from DMA 2 to a deer processor far outside of the DMA, and the high-risk parts went to a rendering plant.

Transporting a deer out of the DMA is illegal. By leaving behind those parts with the highest-risk of transmitting CWD to other deer, hunters limit the chances the disease will spread to new areas of the state. The hunter in this case, which has been adjudicated, also failed to report the deer as required by law.

Hunters need to be taking CWD seriously. To do otherwise, risks spreading the disease to deer and elk in other parts of Pennsylvania. In the early stages of infection, CWD tends to spread and increase very slowly in wild deer populations. This might cause hunters to have a false sense of security, and take the presence of the disease lightly.

I believe it all started from a game farm several years ago. Sad that any state still allows them to remain in existence. Once it shows up it won't go away and the financial costs of containment and future testing can bankrupt a F&W Department.

We should have gotten rid of captive cervid breeders years and years ago. Unfortunately, they are considered deer farming and are now under the dept of Agriculture instead of our game agency and our department of ag would rather hide a violation than enforce laws and regulations. The cervid breeders lobbied to have the PGC removed from being the authority over them because the PGC had and enforced strict regulations regarding moving deer around the state and in and out of the state for breeding purposes. The legislature acquiesced and gave the responsibility to Agriculture. We knew it would just be a matter of time after that until it appeared in our wild herd. At one time CWD was confined to being west of the Mississippi, thanks to captive breeders moving deer around for the lucrative purposes of breeding, it is now east of the Mississippi.

It is in so many states now it really is only a matter of time. Like you said too many states turned a blind eye to the root cause of the epidemic. Here in Vt the keeping of cervids have been outlawed and so is feeding the wild deer herd. It showed up in NY state a few years ago and now spread even more in PA both states are fairly close to VT.

VA. update is that 3 new cases have been found during the past season. 2 were hunter kills and the third was vehicle killed. These were found 2 miles from the WV border, so it doesn't currently appear to be spreading. VA. only has 13 reported cases total. I'm really sorry to hear about PA., especially having 12 in one year. It's only a question about how many other deer those 12 impacted.

It is a bad deal all around when it shows. I think they normally try to isolate the spread by killing all the deer in the hot zone which cost lots of money. Then you have to factor in the reoccurring testing of both hunter killed and vehicle killed deer. I don't think there are many labs equipped and it requires brain tissue so that cost would be pretty high. Then lack of license sales with hunters who don't want to chance eating an infected deer and the the fallout is substantial.

Yeah Olttimr I got the same email. I hope it stays contained in that area and doesn't spread.

@ CI,
Per the VA. article, my state had 1,500 deer tested last season. The labs are minimal considering the#of animals to be tested throughout the U.S., many. That's a lot of money just for VA. All other game dept. needs don't go away just because of 1 issue. Expense must be mind boggling.

It's unfortunate... and, as I'm sure you know firsthand OT, many PA hunters will do exactly what the hunter in the article did. Move the deer, never report it, have it cut up at a processor or in their own garage. These farms should have been shut down long ago, too late now.
-Jake

Many years ago there were a series of threads on HNI against canned hunting facilities. The place that brought it all out was in northern NY state. The facts remain that having any kind of captive deer or elk farms add to the chance of CWD to show up. In many cases the disease spreads from that facility into the wild animals. Once it appears it never leaves since the prions that carry it remain in and on the soil and are possibly re-transmitted. The business of canned hunting must have a large lobby since there are still many states that allow that kind of business which stands to degrade the hunting opportunities for the general public. Canned hunting had a dual edge which is the chance of promoting CWD in addition to the ethical argument as something detrimental to the pursuit of wild game in fair chase. In addition, canned hunting facilities are often the source of wild hogs getting into the wild. Once out there they can't be eliminated. There is nothing good about canned hunting operations other than the selfish business opportunities it gives the owners.

An imperfect deadly disease...
 

among perfect hunters.

Thats sad we never had CWD in 2 of the countys that i hunt, then last year a deer farm let a few deer escape. Guess what? They found CWD in his remaining fenced deer! Now there's a baiting ban here and who knows if CWD is spreading. Instead of banning baiting the DNR should've banned deer White-Tail high fence farming years ago.

When regular folks are getting worried !!
 

I just think it just is"trouble in River City" about an incurable disease for deer.

I think you guys are forgetting that CWD started in a government facility in Colorado. They were the ones who started the spread by dumping contaminated dirt off their property. When you think of the number of deer each state has these cases are small. Our Alberta government is having a fit and we only have maybe five hundred thousand deer in the whole province. Deer yard up in the winter is that not just the same as baiting.
I personally think a new approach to this disease needs to be found.

The disease was at one time only found west of the Mississippi river. It was deer propagators that brought it east of the Mississippi. I never heard the government released it but the government didn't invent it. CWD is in the same family of diseases as Scabies in sheep and mad cow disease in cattle all spread by prions that are almost impossible if not impossible to destroy. They live in the soil and are taken up by the grasses and plants and are also in them as well in contaminated areas. The states east of the Mississippi had ample opportunity to stop the disease from spreading by banning the raising of captive bred cervids. a few did but the rest fiddled around while the fires of burning Rome moved towards them and then it is was too late. This is one of nature's solution to over population, nature doesn't differentiate between animals in the wild and animals in an enclosure in a situation that would be over population in the wild. Over population for a long enough period of time results in various diseases to cut back the numbers. The so called experts are saying that eating the diseased meat will not hurt you. I wonder how many of them have eaten any as a control experiment! These prion diseases have the scary habit of mutating to cross species lines, that is what happened in mad cow disease and it kills people in a horrible way and you can't cook the meat hot enough or long enough to kill the prions. I will not knowingly eat any meat from venison taken from an area known to have CWD nor will I hunt close to those ares or close to an area that had a deer or elk farming operation.

I agree 100% OT.

The thing I wonder about though is if over populationaids the disease Alberta should never have gotten it. Our deer population is minute compared to your states. The state of Texas has more deer than the entire country of Canada. We should not be having an issue with CWD but our F&W claim it is an epidemic. It just irritates me the way our province has slaughtered off our small population.
I believe there is more spreading it than just the deer. It has to be scavengers and predators more than the deer the way it jumps from area to area. Yet we have no bountyy on coyotes or any of the flying scavengers like Ravens and magpies and such.

You do not understand. Over population is the initial cause f the disease, once the cat is out of the bag, such as moving infected deer from one place to the other, the deer either escape their enclosure or are freed on purpose the prions will be shed in urine and feces and they don't don't know the difference between an overpopulated herd and a healthy population.

Ok I undeestand that. However look at how many deer PA has look at the small amount of deer they found with it. It was stated they are checking road kills and hunter harvested deer and only found 22 animals wih it. That is a small amount compared to the deer population of the state which I think is over1 million deer. The disease is supposed to be spread through salia and bodly fluids. This why I believe that scavengers are spreading the didease more than the deer themselves. The first thing birds take from a road kill is the eyes which are full of fluid and who knows how far those birds will travel after that.
I don't know if the U.S. states are still doing culls or what approach they are taking now. All I no is that a lot of healthy deer have been killed to find a very few diseased ones. Hvae the number of infected deer grown or are the numbers staying the same. If they are not increasing it seems piontless to keep worrying so much and spending all this money on it. Poachers are killing more of our deer than CWD and there are not enough funds to fight them. The way they monitor this disease is like having the police record all traffic violations but never do anything to stop them. This seems to be a good project to employ government biologists but does little for the problem. How long have we known of CWD and what has really been gained in the battle against it. To me we are gaining nothing as the disease is still on the move.
I don't know if any one has ever thought of this but could our radical antihunting groups be spreading it around. Now this sounds stupid but think how hard would it be for them to take a road kill from one area to another. How would this work in their favor lets look at it. The deer is infected so the prions are now in the new area just happens this area allows baiting of deer. Now they start a new campaign to ban baiting it is already in effect isn't it. We as hunters are helping them with their job because we constantly bicker about different hunting styles.
Back to the topic the disease is here how bad is it really. Should we continue this approach that appears to be doing little or take this money and fight bigger problems.
I know there are concerns of people getting a mutation of this disease. However I think we are at a far higher risk of catching Lyme from our quarry than a mutation of CWD.