SOUTH DAKOTA'S CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE (CWD) TESTING UPDATE -2009

More CWD cases found in wildlife South Dakota


Associated Press - December 10, 2009 6:25 AM ET

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A half dozen cases of chronic wasting disease were found among 667 samples from deer and elk tested in South Dakota over a recent five-month period.

Chronic wasting attacks the brains of infected animals and is always fatal.

The Game, Fish and Parks Department said lab results are pending on another 477 samples taken between July and December.

The state has found 118 cases of chronic wasting disease since testing began in 1997. All infected animals were in the southwest corner of the state.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.




http://www.ktiv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11653671





SOUTH DAKOTA'S CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE (CWD) TESTING UPDATE -2009


In the South Dakota CWD Surveillance period of July 1, 2009 to November 30, 2009 a total of 1,147 samples have been collected for CWD surveillance. Breakdown of the sampling is as follows:

303 elk sampled - 300 results returned as NOT Positive - 0 results pending (3 POSITIVE ELK FOUND)

246 mule deer sampled - 53 results returned as NOT Positive - 192 results pending (1 POSITIVE MD FOUND)

597 white-tailed deer - 310 results returned as NOT Positive - 285 results pending (2 POSITIVE WT FOUND)

1 Moose sampled--1 result returned as NOT Positive

Below is a listing of the Positive cervids that have been found in South Dakota during this surveillance period.

1. MD male from Rapid City Limits in Pennington County. (Sick/Surveillance) 2. WT female from Unit 27B in Fall River County. (Sick/Surveillance) 3. Elk male from Unit H4A in Custer County. (Hunter Harvest) 4. Elk male from Custer State Park in Custer County. (Hunter Harvest) 5. Elk female from Unit H3D in Custer County. (Hunter Harvest)

6. WT male from Black Hills Deer Unit BH1-11 Custer County (Hunter Harvest)

In Summary:

South Dakota is reporting a total of 6 positive cervids ( 3 elk, 3 deer).

To date, South Dakota has found 118 cases of CWD (78 deer and 40 elk) in free ranging deer and elk since testing began in 1997. Wind Cave National Park accounts for 29 of these animals (21 elk, 8 deer). Four elk and 1 deer have been found in Custer State Park. A total of 20,716 wild deer and elk have been tested for CWD since 1997.

Hunters may get their animal tested for chronic wasting disease by making their own arrangements directly through the SDSU Diagnostic Lab at (605) 688-5171.


http://www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/hunting/BigGame/CWDresults.htm





CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR FREE-RANGING DEER AND ELK IN SOUTH DAKOTA (Revised April 2006)


http://www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/hunting/BigGame/CWDmanagementplan.htm




Map of CWD positives in Southwestern SD July 2008-May 2009


http://www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/hunting/BigGame/Black%20Hills%2008-09.jpg




Black Hills view of Positive CWD cases in South Dakota, 2001-May 2009


http://www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/hunting/BigGame/Black%20Hills%2001-09.jpg




Sunday, December 06, 2009

Detection of Sub-Clinical CWD Infection in Conventional Test-Negative Deer Long after Oral Exposure to Urine and Feces from CWD+ Deer


http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/12/detection-of-sub-clinical-cwd-infection.html





ALSO, NOTE MINERAL LICKS A POSSIBLE SOURCE AND TRANSMISSION MODE FOR CWD ;


http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/08/third-international-cwd-symposium-july.html




http://www.cwd-info.org/pdf/3rd_CWD_Symposium_utah.pdf



Detection of Protease-Resistant Prion Protein in Water from a CWD-Endemic Area Posted by Terry S. Singeltary Sr. on December 4, 2009 at 11:42am

65

Detection of Protease-Resistant Prion Protein in Water from a CWD-Endemic Area

Tracy A. Nichols*1,2, Bruce Pulford1, Christy Wyckoff1,2, Crystal Meyerett1, Brady Michel1, Kevin Gertig3, Jean E. Jewell4, Glenn C. Telling5 and M.D. Zabel1 1Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA 2National Wildlife Research Center, Wildlife Services, United States Department of Agriculture, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80521, USA 3Fort Collins Water and Treatment Operations, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80521, USA 4 Department of Veterinary Sciences, Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 82070, USA 5Department of Microbiology, Immunology, Molecular Genetics and Neurology, Sanders Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40536, USA * Corresponding author- tracy.a.nichols@aphis.usda.gov

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is the only known transmissible spongiform encephalopathy affecting free-ranging wildlife. Experimental and epidemiological data indicate that CWD can be transmitted horizontally and via blood and saliva, although the exact mode of natural transmission remains unknown. Substantial evidence suggests that prions can persist in the environment, implicating it as a potential prion reservoir and transmission vehicle. CWD- positive animals can contribute to environmental prion load via biological materials including saliva, blood, urine and feces, shedding several times their body weight in possibly infectious excreta in their lifetime, as well as through decomposing carcasses. Sensitivity limitations of conventional assays hamper evaluation of environmental prion loads in water. Here we show the ability of serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification (sPMCA) to amplify minute amounts of CWD prions in spiked water samples at a 1:1 x106 , and protease-resistant prions in environmental and municipal-processing water samples from a CWD endemic area. Detection of CWD prions correlated with increased total organic carbon in water runoff from melting winter snowpack. These data suggest prolonged persistence and accumulation of prions in the environment that may promote CWD transmission.

snip...

The data presented here demonstrate that sPMCA can detect low levels of PrPCWD in the environment, corroborate previous biological and experimental data suggesting long term persistence of prions in the environment2,3 and imply that PrPCWD accumulation over time may contribute to transmission of CWD in areas where it has been endemic for decades. This work demonstrates the utility of sPMCA to evaluate other environmental water sources for PrPCWD, including smaller bodies of water such as vernal pools and wallows, where large numbers of cervids congregate and into which prions from infected animals may be shed and concentrated to infectious levels.

snip...end...full text at ;


http://www.landesbioscience.com/journals/prion/article/NicholsPRION...



http://www.cwd-info.org/pdf/3rd_CWD_Symposium_utah.pdf



http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/08/third-international-cwd-symposium-july.html



http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/10/detection-of-protease-resistant-cervid.html






AS THE CROW FLIES, SO DOES CWD



Sunday, November 01, 2009

American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) and potential spreading of CWD
through feces of digested infectious carcases


http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/11/american-crows-corvus-brachyrhynchos.html





Thursday, September 10, 2009

Experimental oral transmission of CWD to red deer (Cervus elaphus elaphus): early detection and late stage distribution of protease-resistant protein


http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/09/experimental-oral-transmission-of.html




Thursday, September 24, 2009 Validation of Use of Rectoanal Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue for Immunohistochemical Diagnosis of Chronic Wasting Disease in White-Tailed Deer


http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/09/validation-of-use-of-rectoanal-mucosa.html




Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Susceptibilities of Nonhuman Primates to Chronic Wasting Disease

snip...

From: TSS (216-119-163-189.ipset45.wt.net)

Subject: CWD aka MAD DEER/ELK TO HUMANS ???

Date: September 30, 2002 at 7:06 am PST

From: "Belay, Ermias"

To:

Cc: "Race, Richard (NIH)" ; ; "Belay,

Ermias"

Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 9:22 AM

Subject: RE: TO CDC AND NIH - PUB MED- 3 MORE DEATHS - CWD - YOUNG HUNTERS

Dear Sir/Madam,

In the Archives of Neurology you quoted (the abstract of which was attached to your email), we did not say CWD in humans will present like variant CJD.

That assumption would be wrong. I encourage you to read the whole article and call me if you have questions or need more clarification (phone: 404-639-3091). Also, we do not claim that "no-one has ever been infected with prion disease from eating venison." Our conclusion stating that we found no strong evidence of CWD transmission to humans in the article you quoted or in any other forum is limited to the patients we investigated.

Ermias Belay, M.D.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

-----Original Message-----

From:

Sent: Sunday, September 29, 2002 10:15 AM

To: rr26k@nih.gov; rrace@niaid.nih.gov; ebb8@CDC.GOV

Subject: TO CDC AND NIH - PUB MED- 3 MORE DEATHS - CWD - YOUNG

HUNTERS

Sunday, November 10, 2002 6:26 PM ......snip........end..............TSS

snip...


http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/08/susceptibilities-of-nonhuman-primates.html




Thursday, December 10, 2009


Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Susceptibility of Several North American Rodents That Are Sympatric with Cervid CWD Epidemics



http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/12/chronic-wasting-disease-cwd.html





TSS