Texas Prepares for Chronic Wasting Disease CWD Possibility in Far West Texas
Texas Prepares for CWD Possibility in Far West Texas
News Release Media Contact: Steve Lightfoot, 512-389-4701, steve.lightfoot@tpwd.state.tx.us
March 26, 2012
Texas Prepares for CWD Possibility in Far West Texas
AUSTIN — The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) has informed Texas officials that three mule deer harvested a few miles from the Texas border last hunting season have tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).
The deer were harvested in the Hueco Mountains, which extend into Texas northeast of El Paso in Hudspeth County. New Mexico has been monitoring annually for CWD since it was first discovered 10 years ago and this event is the closest to Texas that the disease has been detected. Texas also has had an active CWD-surveillance program for the past decade, and CWD has not yet been detected in the state. However, state wildlife officials have been preparing for the possibility since 2002.
“While this finding is not a big surprise, we’re not going to ignore it,” said Mitch Lockwood, Big Game Program Director for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “We are working with TPWD’s Wildlife Health Working Group to develop a more intensive strategy for sampling, and to determine the geographical extent of the disease if it is detected in Texas.”
The Wildlife Health Working Group is comprised of wildlife biologists, veterinarians and other animal-health experts from TPWD, Texas Animal Health Commission, Department of State Health Services, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine, and USDA. NMDGF is also involved in the discussion.
While several thousand deer have been tested for CWD in Texas, wildlife officials express concern that the Trans Pecos region is underrepresented because of the very low number of deer and the relatively low deer harvest in that region. Samples are obtained from hunter-harvested deer, deer found dead on public roadways, and deer showing clinical symptoms. TPWD is determining how many more deer need to be sampled and deer hunters in the region could be asked for their assistance during the next hunting season.
“We are using disease models to determine the intensity of sampling that would be required to detect CWD in that deer population if it is present with a prevalence of at least two percent,” said Ryan Schoeneberg, Big Game Program Specialist with TPWD.
CWD was first recognized in 1967 in captive mule deer in Colorado and has also been documented in captive and/or free-ranging deer in nearly two dozen states and Canadian provinces, including New Mexico. Although fatal in deer, there is no evidence that CWD poses a risk to humans or livestock in the natural environment.
CWD is a member of the group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Other diseases in this group include scrapie in sheep and goats, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or mad cow disease) in cattle, and Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease in people. CWD is a progressive, fatal disease that affects deer, elk, moose, and other cervid species and there is no vaccine or other biological method that prevents it.
“It would be almost impossible to eradicate the disease once it becomes established in a population,” said Lockwood. “But, what we can do is manage the disease and minimize the risk of it spreading.”
More information on CWD can be found on TPWD’s website, www.tpwd.state.tx.us or at the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website, http://www.cwd-info.org.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20120326b&nrtype=all&nrspan=2012&nrsearch=
New Mexico Wildlife
VOL. 55, NO. 4 — Winter 2011
CWD testing continues statewide
The Department of Game and Fish confirmed two new cases of chronic wasting disease – one deer and one elk – in 2010, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 27 mule deer and four elk since CWD first was detected in New Mexico in 2002.
Kerry Mower, Department wildlife disease specialist, said both cases occurred within the known range of the disease in New Mexico – White Sands Missile Range, its eastern neighbor, Game Management Unit 34 in the Sacramento Mountains, and McGregor Range to the south. The deer was tested after being captured on McGregor Range. It was later found dead. The elk was an abnormal animal reported to the Department by a homeowner in the Sacramento Mountains.
Chronic wasting disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy disorder known to affect only deer, elk and moose. In the final stages of the disease, an animal with CWD exhibits a drooping head and ears, lethargy and chronic weight loss. CWD is always fatal to deer and elk, but there is no evidence that it ever has been transmitted to humans or domestic livestock.
To date, CWD seems to be centered in the Organ-San Andres Mountains complex and the Sacramento Mountains of south-central New Mexico, with cases radiating outward. The Department continues to monitor and test for the disease by examining hunter-harvested and live animals in areas of concern.
Mower said despite a surge of initial concern when the disease was first discovered, hunters seem to have become less worried about CWD.
“In the field, most hunters readily participate by allowing tissues to be removed from their carcass, but after leaving the field, they are unlikely to expend additional effort to deliver a harvested deer or elk head for testing,” Mower said. During 2010-2011 hunting seasons, CWD tissue collection stations were open for hunters leaving the Sacramento and Guadalupe Mountains of southern New Mexico and for hunters leaving the Cabresto and Carracas Mesa areas in the north. All testing is voluntary and free to hunters statewide. Hunters also can bring freshly killed animal heads to Department offices for testing.
Although most testing is done on dead deer or elk, testing on live animals increased in 2010 with the capture and release of deer and elk in Timberon, on McGregor Range and on Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Tonsil or rectal tissues from live animals are sent to Veterinary Diagnostic Services, part of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture. Tested animals are fitted with radio transmitters so they can be located if CWD is detected in a tissue biopsy. Test results from more than 300 deer and elk in 2010 are pending.
Mower said hunters play an important role in the monitoring of CWD by participating in the testing programs. Nonhunters can participate by reporting deer or elk that are acting unusual. Anyone who finds a deer or elk that appears unaware of human presence and displays symptoms including droopy ears, emaciation, chronic thirst, frequent urination, and reluctance to leave water, should report their observations to the Department of Game and Fish, Wildlife Management Division, (505) 476-8038.
Bosque del Apache elk focus of latest CWD tests
A growing elk population along the Rio Grande bosque in central New Mexico has prompted the state’s latest investigation into the spread of chronic wasting disease among deer and elk.
In early November, the Department of Game and Fish and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began capturing elk at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife refuge in a joint effort to test for CWD and also determine the size of the herd.
Currently, no elk hunting is allowed in the refuge north of Socorro, allowing the population to steadily grow. Refuge Wildlife Biologist John Vandrenburg said 40 to 50 elk now live in the refuge and are beginning to damage corn and alfalfa fields. One purpose of the current study, he said, is to evaluate whether hunting is a viable option to control the herd. The refuge already offers limited hunting for deer, oryx and small game.
Such isolated, protected and growing populations of deer and elk worry Kerry Mower, Department wildlife disease specialist.
“It’s a classic situation of a high density of deer and elk where CWD could spread widely and quickly through the population,” Mower said. “Plus, we found a single positive case of CWD in a deer in the Stallion Range of White Sands Missile Range 20 to 25 miles away.”
Using a helicopter, Mower and veterinarian Jeannie Ross darted and radiocollared 14 refuge elk in late October. Tissues from each animal were taken to be tested for CWD. It was the first time the Department took rectal tissues from live elk to be tested. Previous tests were from dead animals.
Mower said he hopes to capture and test another 16 elk when the project continues in mid-February, after thousands of sandhill cranes and snow geese leave the refuge.
Need some motivation to turn in your deer or elk head for chronic wasting disease testing? How about a 1 in 100 chance at an oryx hunt on White Sands Missile Range? Or an opportunity to hunt elk on the Valle Vidal? “Many hunters don’t realize that their odds of winning one of these CWD incentive license authorizations are much better than if they go through the regular draw,” said Kerry Mower, wildlife disease specialist for the Department of Game and Fish.
Last year, 221 deer and elk hunters were eligible for the CWD incentive drawing. Two were awarded authorizations to purchase licenses – one for oryx, another for a Valle Vidal bull elk hunt. Another bonus: The highly valued authorizations are transferrable, meaning the drawing winners can sell, trade or give them away. Unlike regular hunts for those areas, these are not once-in-a-lifetime, and the oryx hunter can choose his or her season.
Hunters wishing to participate in the CWD testing must deliver their freshly harvested deer or elk head to any Department office or field collection station so tissues can be collected. Hunters will be contacted if their deer or elk tests positive for CWD. There is no evidence that CWD ever has been transmitted to humans.
For more information about chronic wasting disease in New Mexico, please visit www. wildlife.state.nm.us.
Test your head, boost your odds for oryx, elk tags
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/publications/documents/NM_Wildlife/archives/winter2011.pdf
CWD found in NM deer — Texas taking note
Monday, 26 March 2012 08:57 Edited for web by Conor Harrison
NOT HERE YET: Officials in New Mexico have found evidence of chronic wasting disease in three harvested mule deer near the Texas border. Texas officials are monitoring the disease, and may request hunter help next season. Photo by David J. Sams, LSON. Texas officials have been warned that three recently harvested mule deer taken in New Mexico, several miles from Texas, have tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease.
The deer were harvested in the Hueco Mountains, which extend into Texas northeast of El Paso in Hudspeth County. New Mexico has been monitoring annually for CWD since it was first discovered 10 years ago and this event is the closest to Texas that the disease has been detected. Texas also has had an active CWD-surveillance program for the past decade, and CWD has not yet been detected in the state. However, state wildlife officials have been preparing for the possibility since 2002.
“While this finding is not a big surprise, we’re not going to ignore it,” said Mitch Lockwood, Big Game Program Director for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “We are working with TPWD’s Wildlife Health Working Group to develop a more intensive strategy for sampling, and to determine the geographical extent of the disease if it is detected in Texas.”
While several thousand deer have been tested for CWD in Texas, wildlife officials express concern that the Trans Pecos region is underrepresented because of the very low number of deer and the relatively low deer harvest in that region. Samples are obtained from hunter-harvested deer, deer found dead on public roadways and deer showing clinical symptoms. TPWD is determining how many more deer need to be sampled and deer hunters in the region could be asked for their assistance during the next hunting season.
“We are using disease models to determine the intensity of sampling that would be required to detect CWD in that deer population if it is present with a prevalence of at least two percent,” said Ryan Schoeneberg, Big Game Program Specialist with TPWD.
CWD was first recognized in 1967 in captive mule deer in Colorado and has also been documented in captive and/or free-ranging deer in nearly two dozen states and Canadian provinces, including New Mexico. Although fatal in deer, there is no evidence that CWD poses a risk to humans or livestock in the natural environment.
CWD is a member of the group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Other diseases in this group include scrapie in sheep and goats, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (or mad cow disease) in cattle, and Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease in people. CWD is a progressive, fatal disease that affects deer, elk, moose, and other cervid species and there is no vaccine or other biological method that prevents it.
“It would be almost impossible to eradicate the disease once it becomes established in a population,” Lockwood said. “But, what we can do is manage the disease and minimize the risk of it spreading.”
http://www.lsonews.com/hunting-news/2087-edited-for-web-by-conor-harrison
O.K, MAYBE TEXAS OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN WARNED, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE HUNTERS ET AL ???
SEEMS NEW MEXICO OR TEXAS DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT ???
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/
I am deeply concerned with these CWD mad deer so close to the Texas border. WHAT keeps them from crossing the border to Texas ??? IF these illegal aliens can so easily cross our borders, why not these infected deer? maybe we should get these minute men to start watching for mad deer coming in to Texas from New Mexico.
I mentioned my concerns several other times before;
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/03/tpwd-still-searching-for-cwd-program.html
----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2006 1:47 PM
Subject: CWD in New Mexico 35 MILES FROM TEXAS BORDER and low testing sampling figures -- what gives TAHC ???
http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0612&L=sanet-mg&P=23557
THREE NEW CASES OF CWD were announced in this same location this month ;. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, JULY 7, 2006:. 3 SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO DEER TEST POSITIVE FOR ...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr." <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2006 1:47 PM
Subject: CWD in New Mexico 35 MILES FROM TEXAS BORDER and low testing sampling figures -- what gives TAHC ???
Subject: CWD in New Mexico 35 MILES FROM TEXAS BORDER and low testing sampling figures -- what gives TAHC ???
Date: December 23, 2006 at 11:25 am PST
Greetings BSE-L members,
i never know if i am going crazy or just more of the same BSe. several years ago i brought up the fact to the TAHC that CWD was literally at the Texas borders and that the sample size for cwd testing was no where near enough in the location of that zone bordering NM. well, i just wrote them another letter questioning this again on Dec. 14, 2006 (see below) and showed them two different pdf maps, one referencing this url, which both worked just fine then. since then, i have NOT received a letter from them answering my question, and the url for the map i used as reference is no longer working? i had reference this map several times from the hunter-kill cwd sampling as of 31 August 2005 pdf which NO longer works now??? but here are those figures for that zone bordering NM, for those that were questioning the url. the testing samples elsewhere across Texas where much much more than that figure in the zone bordering NM where CWD has been documented bordering TEXAS, near the White Sands Missile Range. SO, why was the Texas hunter-kill cwd sampling as of 31 August 2005 document removed from the internet??? you know, this reminds me of the infamous TEXAS MAD COW that i documented some 7 or 8 months before USDA et al documented it, when the TAHC accidentally started ramping up for the announcement on there web site, then removed it (see history at bottom). i am not screaming conspiracy here, but confusious is confused again on the ciphering there using for geographical distribution of cwd tissue sample size survey, IF they are serious about finding CWD in TEXAS. common sense would tell you if cwd is 35 miles from the border, you would not run across state and have your larger samples there, and least samples 35 miles from where is what found..........daaa..........TSS
THEN NOTICE CWD sample along that border in TEXAS, Three Year Summary of Hunter-Kill CWD sampling as of 31 August 2005 of only 191 samples, then compare to the other sample locations ;
http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/animal_health/diseases/cwd/CWD_Sampling_Aug2005.pdf
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:rH-1sQfZqtQJ:www.ngpc.state.ne.us/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%3Bf%3D12%3Bt%3D000492+Texas+hunter+kill+sample+for+CWD+to+Aug+31,+2005&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3
TPWD has been conducting surveys of hunter-kill animals since 2002 and has collected more than 7300 samples (as of 31 August 2005). In total, there have been over 9400 samples, both hunter-kill and private samples, tested in Texas to date, and no positives have been found.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/
SO, out of a total of 9,400 samples taken for CWD surveillance in TEXAS since 2002 of both hunter-kill and private kill, ONLY 191 samples have been taken in the most likely place one would find CWD i.e. the border where CWD has been documented at TEXAS and New Mexico
latest map NM cwd old data
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/where_is_it.htm
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/cwd_map.htm
CWD in New Mexico ;
What is the Department doing to
prevent the spread of CWD?
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) was recently
detected in a mule deer from
Unit 34. Until 2005, CWD had only been found
in Unit 19. With this discovery, the Department
will increase its surveillance of deer and elk
harvested in Units 29, 30 and 34.
Lymph nodes and/or brain stems from every
harvested deer and brain stems from all elk
taken in Unit 34 will be sampled.
snip...
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/documents/cwd_flyer.pdf
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/documents/cwdmap.pdf
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahps/cwd/cwd-distribution.html
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/documents/CWD_QandA.pdf
CWD SURVEILLANCE TEXAS
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us//huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/management_plan/status/
IMPLEMENTATION OF A GEOGRAPHICALLY FOCUSED CWD SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM FOR FREE-RANGING CERVIDS
A geographically-focused free-ranging cervid Monitoring Program was implemented during the fall 2002 deer-hunting season. Brain stem samples from hunter-killed deer will be obtained from TPWD Wildlife Management Areas (WMA), State Parks, and where otherwise available with hunter and/or landowner permission, from deer taken on private land. Volume 1, Sixth Edition of United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, Regulatory Statistics (Appendix D1) indicates that 148 samples is sufficient to detect disease at two per-cent prevalence, regardless of the population size. Therefore the goal is to acquire 148 samples from each of the State's ten ecoregions provided adequate sampling distribution is achieved across each ecoregion. The five year 2002 -2006, goal is to cumulatively collect 459 samples from each of the ten ecoregions. The cumulative sample would be used statistically to detect CWD at one per-cent prevalence level with 99 per-cent confidence. However, funding from APHIS/USDA could provide the necessary funds for sampling at the one per-cent prevalence level each year. TAHC conducted a risk assessment of counties where deer and elk have been imported and where high densities of free-ranging deer occur. The assessment was conducted for USDA funding consideration. The risk assessment was based on limited number of criteria. Since CWD could potentially occur anywhere in Texas, monitoring efforts would be focused to achieve a stratified sampling scheme across each ecoregion of the State.
Confidentiality laws restrict the type of data TPWD personnel can collect as it relates to a specific parcel of land. Therefore, personnel will ensure that no property specific information is collected (i.e. ranch name or exact location) without the landowner's written permission. The following are guidelines for data and sample collection distributed to TPWD personnel prior to sample collection:
A Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) Accession Form must be submitted with brain stem samples. The most important items to be filled out are the TPWD employee name, address and phone number, and "Patient/Deer ID". County of Kill can be recorded on the bottom of the form, but DO NOT report any information that identifies the specific parcel of land. The "Patient/Deer ID" number MUST BE specific to the field data sheet the employee is using to record data. Specific CWD field data sheets will not be provided, as current field data sheets (i.e. Age/Weight Antler Data Sheets, Hunter Check Station Data Sheets, etc.) will be appropriate in most cases. Field staff may produce their own CWD data sheet if necessary. The field data sheet must contain: Employee Name Sample Number (same as Patient/Deer ID on TVMDL Accession Form Sample Date Deer Age Deer Sex County of Kill Hunter Name Hunting License Number Ranch name or tract name/location ONLY with landowner permission. Should a CWD positive be detected, TAHC will use hunter contact information to conduct CWD investigation under their regulatory authority. Make sure the container containing the brain stem sample is legibly identified with the sample number, deer age and sex, county of kill and date. Although the sample number is all that is needed, additional information will help resolve any problems should batches of samples be combined. Should a landowner retain deer heads for our sampling purposes, remind the landowner to issue the hunters a proof of sex document as provided for in TAHC 65.10 (c). In addition, a Wildlife resource document (PWD 905) must accompany the head until the carcass reaches a final destination and finally processed. Samples MAY NOT be taken from legally harvested deer without the hunter's consent.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us//huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/management_plan/implementation/
ACTIONS SHOULD A CWD POSITIVE BE DETECTED Should sampling detect a CWD positive animal, TAHC and TPWD would activate the Media Response Plan (Appendix F). TAHC and TPWD would immediately begin review of the information at hand and determine the action to be taken within the Response Plan (Appendix C.) The first action should be to inform landowners adjacent to the property containing the CWD positive and hold a meeting with advisory committees and affected landowner to discuss plans for secondary sampling. Planning for secondary sampling, investigating movements of deer into and away from property for further actions would then be the next step. The secondary sampling is critical for determining distribution and prevalence of the disease.
As distribution and prevalence is being determined, information review and discussions with TPWD advisory committees (e.g., Private Lands Advisory Board, Hunting Advisory Committee, White-tailed Deer Advisory Committee etc.) and landowners would take place in order to determine the appropriate management action to be taken.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us//huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/management_plan/detection/
and the discovery of several CWD positive mule deer in New Mexico, approximately 35 miles north of the Texas border were well out of the known boundaries of the disease.
The disease prevalence appears to be increasing in localized areas, although it is not clear whether this is due to increased incidence, or increased surveillance, reporting, and testing. Information from states with direct experience in managing CWD is being used for developing Texas plans as we learn from their experiences.
TPWD and TAHC are developing stepped up targeted and geographically-focused surveillance plans to monitor free-ranging deer for the presence of the disease and a rapid response plan to guide both TPWD and TAHC should CWD be detected in the State. TPWD and TAHC are also evaluating cervid management laws, rules, and policies for free ranging and scientific breeder permitted cervids under their authority to identify issues and potential weaknesses related to disease management. In these efforts, TPWD and TAHC will work with other agencies and organizations responsible for or are concerned about cervid disease management in an attempt to ensure comprehensive approaches to effective management of CWD risks (see Appendix C: Importation of Susceptible Cervids).
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/management_plan/plan/
----- Original Message -----
From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 9:52 PM
Subject: cwd at Texas border and low sampling figures ???
Greetings TAHC,
can someone please explain to me any reasoning at all for the very low sampling for CWD which have been taken where CWD is literally right at the steps of one of Texas borders, but yet across the state elsewhere, the numbers for testing increases ???
i do not understand the low sampling for cwd size where it is at our borders, compared to the highter numbers elsewhere???
see Texas hunter kill sample for CWD to Aug 31, 2005
http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/animal_health/diseases/cwd/CWD_Sampling_Aug2005.pdf
see map where CWD has been documented at Texas border in free ranging deer and elk
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahps/cwd/images/counties_lg.jpg
kind regards,
Terry
SNIP...SEE FULL TEXT ;
http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0612&L=sanet-mg&P=23557
Subject: CWD 3 NEW CASES SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO
Date: July 10, 2006 at 8:51 am PST
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/Comments/2006-0011/2006-0011-1.pdf
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
Sunday, October 04, 2009
CWD NEW MEXICO SPREADING SOUTH TO TEXAS 2009
2009 Summary of Chronic Wasting Disease in New Mexico New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/10/cwd-new-mexico-spreading-south-to-texas.html
----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."
To:
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2005 6:51 PM
Subject: CWD TWO NEW CASES NEAR WHITE SANDS MISSLE RANGE NEW MEXICO
##################### Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy #####################
From: TSS
Subject: CWD TWO NEW CASES NEAR WHITE SANDS MISSLE RANGE NEW MEXICO
Date: June 27, 2005 at 4:43 pm PST
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Contact: Dan Williams, (505) 476-8004
dan.williams@state.nm.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, JUNE 24, 2005:
TWO MULE DEER TEST POSITIVE FOR CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE
ANGLER LANDS STATE RECORD BLUE CATFISH AT ELEPHANT BUTTE LAKE
TWO MULE DEER TEST POSITIVE FOR CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE
SANTA FE – Two mule deer captured in the Organ Mountains as part of an ongoing research project near White Sands Missile Range have tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease that attacks the brains of infected deer and elk, the Department of Game and Fish announced.
The number of confirmed CWD cases in New Mexico now stands at 11 since 2002, when the disease was first confirmed in a deer found near the eastern foothills of the Organ Mountains. All 11 CWD-infected deer were found in the same general area of southern New Mexico. The origin of the disease in New Mexico remains unknown.
The carcasses of the infected deer will be incinerated, said Kerry Mower, the Department’s lead wildlife disease biologist.
Chronic wasting disease causes animals to become emaciated, display abnormal behavior, lose bodily functions and die. The disease has been found in wild deer and elk, and in captive deer and elk, in eight states and two Canadian provinces. There currently is no evidence of CWD being transmitted to humans or livestock.
Mower said the most recent CWD-positive deer showed no obvious physical signs of having the disease. They were captured in April 2005 and tested as part of a 3-year-old research project studying deer population dynamics in southern New Mexico. More than 140 deer have been captured alive and tested for the study, in which researchers hope to find the cause of a 10-year decline in the area deer population. Study participants include the Department of Game and Fish, the U.S. Army at White Sands Missile Range and Fort Bliss, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Geological Survey at New Mexico State University, and San Andres National Wildlife Refuge.
Hunters can assist the Department in its CWD research and prevention efforts by bringing their fresh, legally harvested deer or elk head to an area office, where officers will remove the brain stem for testing. Participants will be eligible for drawings for an oryx hunt on White Sands Missile Range and a trophy elk hunt on the Valle Vidal.
For more information about the drawing and chronic wasting disease, visit the Department web site at
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/.
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/publications/press_releases/documents/0624CWDandcatfish.pdf
SEE MAP ;
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/documents/cwdmap.pdf
Greetings list members,
I am deeply concerned with these CWD mad deer so close to the Texas border. WHAT keeps them from crossing the border to Texas ??? IF these illegal aliens can so easily cross our borders, why not these infected deer? maybe we should get these minute men to start watching for mad deer coming in to Texas from New Mexico.
I mentioned my concerns several other times before;
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Current status of CWD testing in Texas
Date: Tue, 10 May 2005 09:09:47 –0500
From: "kschwaus"
To:
Mr. Singeltary,
I was asked to provide you with the following information. If you have any other questions regarding CWD sampling in Texas, please do not hesitate to give me a call. My office number is below.
Below I have included a chart showing CWD samples that have been tested since the fall of 2002 through the present at the eco-region level. The second chart shows the totals on a given year. The unknown location samples come from private individuals sending in samples directly to the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Lab (TVMDL). Due to the confidentiality laws that the TVMDL operates under, they are unable to provide TPWD with the location of those samples.
Region Population Estimate
Sampling from Fall 2002 to Present
Pineywoods
502,521
975
Gulf Prairie
90,664
441
Post Oak Savannah
291,119
1146
Black Land Prairies
54,505
153
Cross Timbers
441,031
1015
Edwards Plateau
1,608,390
1618
South Texas Plains
500,183
1253
Rolling Plains
231,358
352
High Plains
49,981
81
Trans Pecos
148,174
173
Unknown Location
1,896
Total
3,917,926
9,103
Samples Collected By
2002-03
2003-04
2004-Present
TPWD
1,722
2,955
2,540
Private (unknown location)
326
608
952
Total
2,048
3,563
3,492
Thank you,
Kevin Schwausch
Big Game Program Specialist
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
PO Box 1394
Burnet, TX 78611
512-756-4476
===============================
I would like to thank Kevin and TPWD for there prompt reply with updated data.
I am still concerned about the Texas, New Mexico border and New Mexico's apparent lack of CWD testing updates. Makes one wonder about there CWD testing program. NO report/reply back from New Mexico about there CWD testing update yet. ...
TSS
===================
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: CWD SURVEILLANCE TEXAS UPDATE (kinda)
Date: Mon, 9 May 2005 14:52:48 –0500
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."
Reply-To: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
To: BSE-L@aegee.org
##################### Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy #####################
IMPLEMENTATION OF A GEOGRAPHICALLY FOCUSED CWD SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM FOR FREE-RANGING CERVIDS
A geographically-focused free-ranging cervid Monitoring Program was implemented during the fall 2002 deer-hunting season. Brain stem samples from hunter-killed deer will be obtained from TPWD Wildlife Management Areas (WMA), State Parks, and where otherwise available with hunter and/or landowner permission, from deer taken on private land. Volume 1, Sixth Edition of United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, Regulatory Statistics (Appendix D1 ) indicates that 148 samples is sufficient to detect disease at two per-cent prevalence, regardless of the population size. Therefore the goal is to acquire 148 samples from each of the State's ten ecoregions provided adequate sampling distribution is achieved across each ecoregion. The five year 2002 -2006, goal is to cumulatively collect 459 samples from each of the ten ecoregions. The cumulative sample would be used statistically to detect CWD at one per-cent prevalence level with 99 per-cent confidence. However, funding from APHIS/USDA could provide the necessary funds for sampling at the one per-cent prevalence level each year. TAHC conducted a risk assessment of counties where deer and elk have been imported and where high densities of free-ranging deer occur. The assessment was conducted for USDA funding consideration. The risk assessment was based on limited number of criteria. Since CWD could potentially occur anywhere in Texas, monitoring efforts would be focused to achieve a stratified sampling scheme across each ecoregion of the State.
Confidentiality laws restrict the type of data TPWD personnel can collect as it relates to a specific parcel of land. Therefore, personnel will ensure that no property specific information is collected (i.e. ranch name or exact location) without the landowner's written permission. The following are guidelines for data and sample collection distributed to TPWD personnel prior to sample collection:
1. A Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) Accession Form must be submitted with brain stem samples.
2. The most important items to be filled out are the TPWD employee name, address and phone number, and "Patient/Deer ID". County of Kill can be recorded on the bottom of the form, but DO NOT report any information that identifies the specific parcel of land.
3. The "Patient/Deer ID" number MUST BE specific to the field data sheet the employee is using to record data.
4. Specific CWD field data sheets will not be provided, as current field data sheets (i.e. Age/Weight Antler Data Sheets, Hunter Check Station Data Sheets, etc.) will be appropriate in most cases. Field staff may produce their own CWD data sheet if necessary.
5. The field data sheet must contain:
1. Employee Name
2. Sample Number (same as Patient/Deer ID on TVMDL Accession Form
3. Sample Date
4. Deer Age
5. Deer Sex 6. County of Kill
7. Hunter Name
8. Hunting License Number
9. Ranch name or tract name/location ONLY with landowner permission.
6. Should a CWD positive be detected, TAHC will use hunter contact information to conduct CWD investigation under their regulatory authority.
7. Make sure the container containing the brain stem sample is legibly identified with the sample number, deer age and sex, county of kill and date. Although the sample number is all that is needed, additional information will help resolve any problems should batches of samples be combined.
8. Should a landowner retain deer heads for our sampling purposes, remind the landowner to issue the hunters a proof of sex document as provided for in TAHC 65.10 (c). In addition, a Wildlife resource document (PWD 905) must accompany the head until the carcass reaches a final destination and finally processed.
9. Samples MAY NOT be taken from legally harvested deer without the hunter's consent.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/implementation/
ACTIONS SHOULD A CWD POSITIVE BE DETECTED
Should sampling detect a CWD positive animal, TAHC and TPWD would activate the Media Response Plan (Appendix F).
TAHC and TPWD would immediately begin review of the information at hand and determine the action to be taken within the Response Plan (Appendix C.) The first action should be to inform landowners adjacent to the property containing the CWD positive and hold a meeting with advisory committees and affected landowner to discuss plans for secondary sampling. Planning for secondary sampling, investigating movements of deer into and away from property for further actions would then be the next step. The secondary sampling is critical for determining distribution and prevalence of the disease.
As distribution and prevalence is being determined, information review and discussions with TPWD advisory committees (e.g., Private Lands Advisory Board, Hunting Advisory Committee, White-tailed Deer Advisory Committee etc.) and landowners would take place in order to determine the appropriate management action to be taken.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/detection/
APPENDIX A: Results of CWD Sampling
Sampling and testing results for CWD from June, 2002 to April 1, 2003 are presented below:
Sampling and testing results for CWD from June, 2002 to April 1, 2003 TPWD TAHC Private Sector 1349 CWD Negative Deer 335 CWD Negative Deer 336 CWD Negative Deer 23 CWD Negative Exotics No Exotics No Exotics 1372 Total 335 Total 336 Total
The Grand Total of all samples collected and known 4/1/03 is 2043 of which 2020 deer and 23 exotics were found CWD negative. Samples were collected from 143 of 254 counties in Texas, and seven counties had 50 or more samples collected. Five ecoregions had 160 or more samples collected (150 samples from each ecoregion was the goal). The geographic distribution of sampling is currently not considered adequate for determining whether or not CWD exists in Texas (see map pg. 15). The goal is to improve upon distribution of samples collected within ecoregions and within counties. The goal of 2003-2004 and the next three to five years, is to collect 5000 samples (500 from each ecoregion) each sample year. The increased sampling is to have a 99 per-cent confidence level in detecting CWD if only one per-cent of the population is infected. Long-term surveillance sampling for CWD is required, as little is known about the incubation and infectious periods of the disease.
fig1AppendixA (18K)
SEE MAP OF TEXAS CWD TESTING
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/images/fig1AppendixA.png
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/appendix_a/
APPENDIX B: Chronic Wasting Disease - Status of Current Knowledge
Occurrence and Distribution
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, which is a disease that alters the structure of the brain, in a way that resembles a sponge-like appearance and texture. Much is not known about CWD, including its origin, exact mode of transmission, and the causative or etiological agent. The source of CWD may be related in some way to scrapie in domestic sheep; it may "represent a spontaneous, naturally occurring" form of this disease in cervids thought to be caused by a "low virus infection." A more plausible theory is that CWD is caused by a point mutation of a membrane-bound protein resulting in accumulations of proteinase-resistant proteins called "prions" in the brain (medulla oblongata), tonsils (in deer only), and lymphoid tissue.
The only known long-term distribution of CWD in free-ranging susceptible cervids includes two contiguous local areas in northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming. Up to 15% and less than 1% prevalence were reported for mule deer and elk, respectively, in certain management units. Two cases of CWD occurred in mule deer in the southwestern corner of the panhandle of Nebraska, which is close to the endemic area of Colorado and Wyoming. Both of these latter animals were close enough to have originated from the endemic area. More recently, CWD was diagnosed in deer in Nebraska within and outside a fenced pasture of a captive operation where elk were diagnosed with the disease. Infections in captive elk also have been documented in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Kansas. In early 2002, CWD was detected in free-ranging white-tailed deer in South Dakota and Wisconsin, later the disease was found in breeder pens in northern Wisconsin. Cases of CWD have been documented in captive elk and free ranging mule deer in Saskatchewan and Ontario as well. New Mexico discovered CWD in a free-ranging mule deer on the White Sands Missile Range, Minnesota found CWD in a captive elk herd, Illinois detected CWD in a free-ranging white-tailed deer and an infected white-tailed deer was found in a breeding facility in Alberta.
Incubation, Transmission, and Clinical Course of CWD
Incubation time, that time from infection to appearance of clinical signs, typically is less than 2 years (18-24 months). However, incubation time can be variable and ranges up to 36 months. The exact mode of transmission of CWD is unknown; however, circumstantial and experimental data indicate horizontal (or lateral) transmission in captive susceptible cervids, either by direct animal-to-animal contact or by environmental contamination. For susceptible cervids, the routes of transmission are presumed to be by exposure to saliva, urine, feces, or placental tissue, with infection occurring through the alimentary canal (mouth/nose - esophagus - stomach - intestines). If this transmission mode is confirmed for free-ranging deer or elk, it could potentially exacerbate the risk of infection. In contrast to outbreaks of mad cow disease, where exposure to animal protein-contaminated feed was documented, this has not been the case for captive or wild cervids infected with CWD. Presently, feed contamination is not considered a likely underlying transmission mechanism. Whereas, the importance of maternal transmission (mother to fetus or nursing young) as a mode of scrapie transmission in domestic sheep has at least been debated, its importance relative to CWD persistence in captive and wild cervid herds has been contraindicated thus far by current reports. Although the route of agent shedding from infected individuals is presently unknown, it is believed that the rate of agent shedding may very well increase as the disease progresses. Thus far, evidence also indicates that there is no difference between males and females or across age classes in susceptibility to CWD.
Importantly, natural transmission of TSEs (i.e., BSE, CWD) between domesticated bovines (i.e., cattle, bison), sheep and cervids has not been documented. Deer, domestic cattle and sheep have been experimentally inoculated with brain tissue containing (PrP(res)) from CWD - infected mule deer, and 2 years later, only the deer have become infected with CWD. However, healthy deer have been inoculated with brain tissue from scrapie-infected sheep, and the deer developed spongiform encephalopathy.
The clinical course of CWD is about 12 months. That is, once clinical signs are apparent, cervids rarely survive more than 12 months. Chronic wasting disease is a progressive, fatal disease, with no vaccine to prevent the disease or treatment for reversing the disease (recovery), and there is no evidence of immunity. There has been no effective, practical ante mortem (live-animal) test for diagnosis until recently; a live-test for deer (not elk) involving tonsil biopsy and immunohistochemical analysis for (PrR (res)) accumulation has demonstrated promise, and may be more sensitive than the post-mortem analysis of the obex of the medulla oblongata in the brain. The practicality of this test remains to be decided.
Clinical Signs of CWD
All signs or symptoms of CWD do not occur in all cases, and many of these signs are symptoms of other diseases and conditions as well. Further, the occurrence and severity of symptoms will depend in part on the stage (early versus advanced) of the disease. Below is a comprehensive list of the clinical signs of CWD: (1) loss of fear of humans; (2) nervousness or hyper-excitability; (3) teeth-grinding; (4) ataxia or loss of coordination; (5) notable weakness; (6) intractability; (7) inability to stand; (8) rough dull hair coat; (9) excessive salivation; (10) flaccid, hypotonia of the facial muscles; (11) drooping of the head and ears; (12) excessive thirst (polydipsia); (13) excessive urination (polyuria); (14) esophageal hypotonia and dilation, difficulty swallowing, and regurgitating ruminal fluid and ingesta; and (15) severe emaciation and dehydration.
It is important to note that while some primary symptoms may be directly related to CWD, others may be secondary, more of a consequence of the deteriorating body condition (emaciation) and related physiology (e.g., pneumonia, abscesses, enteritis, or internal parasitism that may often cause emaciation).
Pathological Signs of CWD
Pathological signs of the disease include: (1) emaciation associated with absence or serous atrophy of subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue or fat, and yellow gelatinous bone marrow; (2) sub acute to chronic bronchopneumonia; (3) digestive tract (abomasal or omasal) ulcers; (4) enlarged adrenal glands; (5) watery or frothy rumen contents; and (6) histological lesions. These lesions have primarily and most consistently been observed in the brain and spinal cord. (7) Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is very sensitive and specific to CWD and is typically used to confirm diagnoses by measuring accumulations of proteinase-resistant prion protein (PrP(res)) in brain tissues (specifically in the obex of the medulla oblongata) of infected deer and elk. This prion protein is indistinguishable from the scrapie-associated prion protein (PrP(Sc)) found in brain tissues of domestic sheep infected with scrapie, but other differences have been noted. (PrP(res)) has not been detected in uninfected cervids. This test can detect CWD infection before lesions are observable; however, IHC (+) results are not detected until at least three months after infection. Lesions do not always accompany (PrP(res)) accumulation and IHC (+) results. (8) Scrapie associated fibrils (SAFs) have been observed by electron microscopy in the brain tissue of infected cervids, but not in uninfected cervids. (9) Generally, blood (whole blood and serum) and urine profiles have remained within the normal range, with the exception that certain characteristics have reflected the emaciated condition of the infected animals. Low specific gravity of the urine, is the one urine characteristic that may be directly related to CWD, specifically to degenerative encephalopathic changes in the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is important in regulating anti diuretic hormone, which influences concentrations of urinary electrolytes (e.g., Na) and osmolality.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/appendix_b/
APPENDIX C: Importation of Susceptible Cervids
On March 20, 2002, the Texas Animal Health Commission, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission issued separate orders to prohibit the entry of all elk, white-tailed deer, black-tailed deer, and mule deer into Texas.
On August 25, 2002, Texas Animal Health Commission adopted entry requirements for black-tailed deer, elk, or other cervid species determined to be susceptible to CWD. All mule deer and white-tailed deer held under authority of Scientific Breeder Permits are also required to obtain a purchase permit and, in some cases, a transport permit from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in order to enter the state. All requests for entry must be made in writing and accompanied with the information necessary to support import qualification of the animal(s). Requests for entry and supporting documentation should be received by the TAHC at least 10 working days prior to the proposed entry date. The processing of the application can be expedited by assuring that all of the necessary documentation has been provided and that the necessary staff is available for review. The application must be accompanied by an owner's statement stating that to his/her knowledge the animals (or donor animals) to be imported have never come in contact with equipment or resided on a premise where CWD was ever diagnosed.
Entry Requirements: The applicant must identify the herd of origin and the herd of destination on both the permit application and the certificate of veterinary inspection. The susceptible cervid(s) to be imported into this state, shall be identified to their herd of origin by a minimum of two official/approved unique identifiers to include, but not limited to, legible tattoo, USDA approved ear tag, breed registration or other state approved permanent identification methods. If a microchip is used for identification, the owner shall provide the necessary reader. A certificate of veterinary inspection completed by an accredited veterinarian shall accompany the shipment. Additionally, the herd of origin must meet the following criteria:
1. In states where there is a state approved CWD monitoring program which meets the requirements provided in Section D of Appendix C (below) and where CWD has not been identified in a susceptible species, then all elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer, and black-tailed deer to be imported must originate from a herd that has been in a state-approved complete herd certification program for a minimum of three years (or current federal standards).
2. From states which do not have a CWD monitoring program which meets the standards provided in Section D of Appendix C (below) and where CWD has not been identified in a susceptible species, then all elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer, and black-tailed deer shall originate from herds that have complete herd records, including, but not limited to, complete and detailed herd inventories, records of deaths, laboratory results, and sales and purchase receipts, for a minimum of five years. Complete documents which support this type of status shall be submitted with the permit application.
3. In states where CWD has been identified in a susceptible species, then elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer, and black-tailed deer (or other susceptible species) to be imported must originate from a herd that has been in a state-approved complete herd monitoring program, as provided in Section D of Appendix C (below) for a minimum of five years.
4. A state-approved chronic wasting disease monitoring program must be certified by the Texas State Veterinarian as meeting the following minimum standards:
1. In states where CWD has been found in free-ranging wildlife, the state program shall have perimeter fencing requirements adequate to prevent ingress, egress or contact with susceptible cervids.
2. Surveillance based on testing of susceptible cervid deaths over 16 months of age is required of all herds within a complete herd monitoring program. Surveillance sampling at commercial slaughter and at shooter operations should be at least 10 percent of the number slaughtered annually.
3. A good quality sampling program where state and federal officials have the authority to adjust herd status if poor quality samples, particularly samples that are from the wrong portion of the brain, are routinely submitted from a premise. Laboratory analysis of the brain stem by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved lab is recognized as the current standard for CWD diagnosis. Other laboratory analyses may be accepted as validated or accepted by USDA/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
4. Physical herd inventory with annual verification reconciling animals and identification with records by an accredited veterinarian or state or federal personnel is required. Inventory is to include a cross check of all animal identifications with the herd inventory and specific information on the disposition of all animals not present.
5. Premise locations must be specifically identified by GIS or detailed description during the initial herd inventory.
6. Herd additions are allowed from herds with equal or greater time in an approved state CWD monitoring program with no negative impact on the certification status of the receiving herd. If herd additions are acquired from a herd with a later date of enrollment, the receiving herd reverts to the enrollment date of the sending herd. If a herd participating in the monitoring program acquires animals from a non-participating herd, the receiving herd must start over with new enrollment date based upon the date of acquisition of the animal(s). If a new herd begins with animals of a given status, that status will be retained by the new herd, based upon the lowest status of the animals received. Animals of different status which are commingled during marketing or transport will revert to the lowest status.
7. Elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer and black-tailed deer will only be allowed to enter the state of Texas if the state of origin lists CWD as a reportable disease and imposes an immediate quarantine on a herd and/or premise when a CWD positive animal is disclosed.
8. Animal health officials in the state of origin must have access to herd records for the appropriate number of years (three to five), including records of deaths and causes of death.
9. Section D also addresses entry requirements as they pertain to tuberculosis testing. However, these requirements are not included as a part of the Texas Chronic Wasting Disease Management Plan.
At the November 2002 meeting the TPWD Commission adopted regulations, to suspend the ban on importation of mule deer and white-tailed deer and provide for importation under TAHC requirements. Additionally, the TPW Commission adopted changes to Trap, Transportation, and Transplant rules, which will require a sample of deer to be tested for CWD on any property serving as a trap site for relocated deer. The rule sets forth the minimum sample size, requires the sample to be tested 100% negative by the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory and stipulates that all deer transported be uniquely marked with an ear tattoo prior to release.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/appendix_c/
APPENDIX D: Response Plan for CWD If Detected
1. If the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory reports a CWD positive test, the suspect sample will be immediately shipped to USDA Laboratory at Ames, Iowa for conformation of positive finding. The time between initial suspect finding and Ames Lab confirmation will be used to mobilize staff and groups for response plan initiation.
2. The confirmation notice of a positive would come through the USDA Veterinary Services Office in Austin, and USDA/VS personnel would be part of the response effort.
3. Governor's Office will be notified of the finding, as well as Commission members of both TAHC and TPWD.
4. CWD Media Response Plan will be activated (Appendix F).
5. Source location of CWD positive concerns:
1. The source location of the CWD positive animal and information about the area, landowners (to contact for cooperative discussions on further sampling, review of management plans), and the deer density within a 4-8 mile radius will be determined.
2. Should the source location of the CWD positive be in a Scientific Breeder facility or pen, TAHC will inform and work cooperatively with the landowner. TAHC may elect to monitor the herd with special conditions (i.e. double-fencing) or negotiate indemnification (cap established at $3000.00 for prime breeding animals) for eradication of the herd.
6. GIS locations and mapping for sampling will be utilized.
7. TAHC and TPWD will inform and work cooperatively with landowners and with landowner permission in the sample area that may be affected.
8. TAHC would determine sampling requirements. Sample numbers and the size of the area to be sampled will be determined based upon population numbers and the statistically-based numbers required for detecting CWD at a 2% prevalence level from "Regulatory Statistics Volume 1, Sixth Edition" (See Appendix D1). The numbers of animals to be sampled (projected at 150) would be collected throughout an area from 64-1056 square miles and not from a single property unless it is as large as the sample area around a positive. A square mile is 640 acres, in areas where the herd density is 1 deer per 5 acres an area of 64 square miles should contain 8192 deer (128 deer per section) and less than 3 deer per section will be sampled. In areas where the herd density is 1 deer per 200 acres an area of 1056 square miles should contain 3379 deer (3.2 deer section) a deer per 7 sections would be sampled. This sampling is not designed to reduce the population below viability.
9. Sampling will be conducted at no cost to the landowner in a cooperative manner to detect additional CWD positives, and sampling around any additional positive finds, to determine direction of spread, prevalence of the disease and to determine distribution. Additional samples would be taken surrounding any new positive to determine direction, but re-sampling again in an area previously sampled would not be necessary.
10. Simultaneously with the sampling, a joint investigation into movement of deer into or out of area will be conducted. 11. Identify geologic features or barriers, which may be used to limit population distribution, will be determined.
12. After distribution is determined, reasonable, responsible, and rational management strategies will be determined in association with landowners and applied as situations dictate following sampling activities, to include monitoring at appropriate intervals, herd reduction as a possible strategy, and eradication of local populations in limited appropriate circumstances. Strategies for possible treatments will also be discussed and reviewed with the TTT/MLDP Task Force/ White-tailed Deer Advisory Committee and the Private Lands Advisory Board.
13. TPWD will collect and take samples from cervids and transport sample to Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory for analysis.
14. Options for CWD testing (i.e. ELISA test) within localities should a CWD-positive be detected will be considered and evaluated. The purpose would be to ensure reliable test results in a timely manner within the local area providing little interruption to hunting and recreation in the area.
15. TPWD must be prepared to make budget and personnel adjustments for the sampling.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/appendix_d/
APPENDIX D1
United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Veterinary Services
REGULATORY STATISTICS
Volume 1
Sixth Edition June 1983 By Victor C. Beal, Jr. Table 2 - NUMBER NEEDED TO TEST TO BE 95% CONFIDENT THAT THE DISEASE WILL BE DETECTED IF PRESENT AT OR ABOVE FIVE LEVELS OF INCIDENCE OR CONTAMINATION
SEE FUZZY MATH BELOW ;
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/appendix_d1/
APPENDIX E: TAHC Rules for Monitoring CWD
Participating herds must have adequate perimeter fencing to prevent ingress and egress of cervids. Collection and submission of appropriate samples from all cases of mortality in animals over 16 months of age will accomplish surveillance in participating herds. Exemptions are provided for animals consigned to commercial slaughter operations with state or federal meat inspection. An annual inventory in participating herds shall be verified by a TAHC, USDA or accredited veterinarian. All animals over one year of age shall be identified with an official ear tag or other approved identification device. All animals less than one year of age shall be officially identified on a change of ownership.
Herd status designation shall be assigned on the basis of the number of years of participation provided that CWD is not confirmed in the herd:
1. Level A - One full year of participation. 2. Level B - Two to three years of participation. 3. Level C - Four to five years of participation. 4. Level D - Six years or more of participation.
Additions to Complete Monitored Herd:
1. Additions may originate from herds of equal or higher status with no change in the status of the receiving herd. 2. Additions may originate from herds of lower status with the receiving herd acquiring the lower status of the herd(s) involved.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/appendix_e/
APPENDIX F: Media Response Plan
A deer tissue sample tests positive for CWD in Texas, then the TPWD and TAHC officials have only a few hours to manage communication before news reaches the public section.
Prior to Trigger Event, these items are complete and ready to go:
* Step-by-Step Media Response Plan * Shell of news release announcing CWD find-Draft pending response plan protocols being developed between TPWD and TAHC. * Identify news media spokespersons with TPWD and TAHC in Austin o TAHC: (512) 719-0700. Media Contact: Carla Everett. Spokespersons: Dr. Ken Waldrup, Dr. Max Coates, Dr. Linda Logan, Dr. Dan Baca, and Dr. Terry Conger. o TPWD: (512) 389-8900. Media Contact: Steve Lightfoot. Spokespersons: Robert L. Cook, Ron George, Clayton Wolf, and Doug Humphreys * Web site for news media and general public on CWD. Listings on site include: * FAQ/Q&A sheet with basic facts on CWD o http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/ * Names/contact info for local/regional experts who can speak about CWD in various regions of Texas. * Streaming video of CWD educational video on Web for general public. * Downloadable radio PSAs. * High-resolution photos and video of animals with CWD.
Actions Needed:
* Gain a clear understanding of Texas operational plan for handling CWD outbreak, including likely sequence of events from initial find to confirmation, and approve policies concerning quarantines, stoppage of intrastate animal movement, and designation of infection zone for monitoring, sampling protocols and possible depopulation plan. * Effective communication planning hinges on our through understanding of state's plan for dealing with a CWD outbreak. * Obtain concurrence with media response plan from TAHC and TPWD. * Make final these above-listed information instruments.
Trigger Event
Notification that a suspected case of CWD exists in Texas.
Notify media contacts at TAHC and TPWD.
* TAHC - Carla Everett, (512) 719-0700 or (800) 550-8242. ceverett@tahc.state.tx.us * TPWD - Steve Lightfoot, (512) 389-4701 or (512) 565-3680. steve.lightfoot@tpwd.state.tx.us
Actions Needed:
* TAHC and TPWD confirm contacts and alternates, e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers and office and home phone numbers provided to Carla Everett and/or Steve Lightfoot for compilation, coordination and distribution to agency leadership and involved personnel from other entities. * News release distributed to media, agency(s) personnel and commissioners, affected stakeholder groups and constituents. * News conference called, depending on level of media response.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2001 - 2002
TEXAS OLD STATISTICS BELOW FOR PAST CWD TESTING;
Subject: CWD testing in Texas
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2002 19:45:14 –0500
From: Kenneth Waldrup
To: flounder@wt.net
CC: mcoats@tahc.state.tx.us
Dear Dr. Singletary,
In Fiscal Year 2001, seven deer from Texas were tested by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) for CWD (5 fallow deer and 2 white-tailed deer). In Fiscal Year 2002, seven elk from Texas were tested at NVSL (no deer). During these two years, an additional six elk and one white-tailed deer were tested at the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL). In Fiscal Year 2002, four white-tailed deer (free-ranging clinical suspects) and at least eight other white-tailed deer have been tested at TVMDL. One elk has been tested at NVSL. All of these animals have been found negative for CWD. Dr. Jerry Cooke of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department also has records of 601 clinically ill white-tailed deer which were necropsied at Texas A&M during the late 1960's and early 1970's, and no spongiform encepalopathies were noted.
Thank you for your consideration.
Ken Waldrup, DVM, PhD Texas Animal Health Commission
========================
TEXAS CWD STATUS
Captive Cervids
There have been no reported CWD infections of captive elk or deer in Texas. There is currently no mandatory surveillance program for susceptible cervids kept on game farms, although, there has been voluntary surveillance since 1999, which requires owners of participating herds to maintain an annual herd inventory and submit samples for all mortalities of animals over 16 months of age.
snip...
SO, i thought i would just see where these Ecoregions were, and just how the CWD testing was distributed. YOU would think that with the cluster of CWD bordering TEXAS at the WPMR in NM, you would have thought this would be where the major CWD testing samples were to have been taken? wrong! let's have a look at the sample testing. here is map of CWD in NM WPMR bordering TEXAS;
NEW MEXICO 7 POSITIVE CWD WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE MAP
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/documents/cwdmap.pdf
NEXT, let's have a look at the overall distribution of CWD in Free-Ranging Cervids and see where the CWD cluster in NM WSMR borders TEXAS;
Current Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease in Free-Ranging Cervids
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahps/cwd/cwd-distribution.html
NOW, the MAP of the Exoregion where the samples were taken to test for CWD;
CWD SURVEILLANCE SAMPLE SUBMISSIONS TEXAS
http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/animal_health/diseases/cwd/CWD2003.gif
Ecoregions of TEXAS
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/images/tx-eco95.gif
IF you look at the area around the NM WSMR where the CWD cluster was and where it borders TEXAS, that ecoregion is called Trans Pecos region. Seems if my Geography and my Ciphering is correct ;-) that region only tested 55% of it's goal. THE most important area on the MAP and they only test some 96 samples, this in an area that has found some 7 positive animals? NOW if we look at the only other border where these deer from NM could cross the border into TEXAS, this area is called the High Plains ecoregion, and again, we find that the sampling for CWD was pathetic. HERE we find that only 9% of it's goal of CWD sampling was met, only 16 samples were tested from some 175 that were suppose to be sampled.
AS i said before;
> SADLY, they have not tested enough from the total population to
> know if CWD is in Texas or not.
BUT now, I will go one step further and state categorically that they are not trying to find it. just the opposite it seems, they are waiting for CWD to find them, as with BSE/TSE in cattle, and it will eventually...
TSS
2012
Colorado
Captive CWD discovered 1967
Free ranging CWD discovered 1981
PLEASE STUDY THIS MAP !
SEE CWD MAP, RELATE TO DATES OF GAME FARM INFECTION, TO DATE OF INFECTION RATE IN WILD, SURROUNDING SAID INFECTED GAME FARMS. ...TSS
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/3/11-0685-f1.htm
*** Chronic Wasting Disease CWD CDC REPORT MARCH 2012 ***
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Occurrence, Transmission, and Zoonotic Potential of Chronic Wasting Disease
CDC Volume 18, Number 3—March 2012
SNIP...
Long-term effects of CWD on cervid populations and ecosystems remain unclear as the disease continues to spread and prevalence increases. In captive herds, CWD might persist at high levels and lead to complete herd destruction in the absence of human culling. Epidemiologic modeling suggests the disease could have severe effects on free-ranging deer populations, depending on hunting policies and environmental persistence (8,9). CWD has been associated with large decreases in free-ranging mule deer populations in an area of high CWD prevalence (Boulder, Colorado, USA) (5).
SNIP...
Reasons for Caution There are several reasons for caution with respect to zoonotic and interspecies CWD transmission. First, there is strong evidence that distinct CWD strains exist (36). Prion strains are distinguished by varied incubation periods, clinical symptoms, PrPSc conformations, and CNS PrPSc depositions (3,32). Strains have been identified in other natural prion diseases, including scrapie, BSE, and CJD (3). Intraspecies and interspecies transmission of prions from CWD-positive deer and elk isolates resulted in identification of >2 strains of CWD in rodent models (36), indicating that CWD strains likely exist in cervids. However, nothing is currently known about natural distribution and prevalence of CWD strains. Currently, host range and pathogenicity vary with prion strain (28,37). Therefore, zoonotic potential of CWD may also vary with CWD strain. In addition, diversity in host (cervid) and target (e.g., human) genotypes further complicates definitive findings of zoonotic and interspecies transmission potentials of CWD. Intraspecies and interspecies passage of the CWD agent may also increase the risk for zoonotic CWD transmission. The CWD prion agent is undergoing serial passage naturally as the disease continues to emerge. In vitro and in vivo intraspecies transmission of the CWD agent yields PrPSc with an increased capacity to convert human PrPc to PrPSc (30).
Interspecies prion transmission can alter CWD host range (38) and yield multiple novel prion strains (3,28). The potential for interspecies CWD transmission (by cohabitating mammals) will only increase as the disease spreads and CWD prions continue to be shed into the environment. This environmental passage itself may alter CWD prions or exert selective pressures on CWD strain mixtures by interactions with soil, which are known to vary with prion strain (25), or exposure to environmental or gut degradation. Given that prion disease in humans can be difficult to diagnose and the asymptomatic incubation period can last decades, continued research, epidemiologic surveillance, and caution in handling risky material remain prudent as CWD continues to spread and the opportunity for interspecies transmission increases. Otherwise, similar to what occurred in the United Kingdom after detection of variant CJD and its subsequent link to BSE, years of prevention could be lost if zoonotic transmission of CWD is subsequently identified,
SNIP...SEE FULL TEXT ;
*** Chronic Wasting Disease CWD CDC REPORT MARCH 2012 ***
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Occurrence, Transmission, and Zoonotic Potential of Chronic Wasting Disease
CDC Volume 18, Number 3—March 2012
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/3/11-0685_article.htm
see much more here ;
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2012/02/occurrence-transmission-and-zoonotic.html
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Chronic Wasting Disease CWD cervids interspecies transmission
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2012/01/chronic-wasting-disease-cwd-cervids.html
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The Risk of Prion Zoonoses
Science 27 January 2012: Vol. 335 no. 6067 pp. 411-413 DOI: 10.1126/science.1218167
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2012/01/risk-of-prion-zoonoses.html
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Facilitated Cross-Species Transmission of Prions in Extraneural Tissue
Science 27 January 2012: Vol. 335 no. 6067 pp. 472-475 DOI: 10.1126/science.1215659
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2012/01/facilitated-cross-species-transmission.html
CJD9/10022
October 1994
Mr R.N. Elmhirst Chairman British Deer Farmers Association Holly Lodge Spencers Lane BerksWell Coventry CV7 7BZ
Dear Mr Elmhirst,
CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE (CJD) SURVEILLANCE UNIT REPORT
Thank you for your recent letter concerning the publication of the third annual report from the CJD Surveillance Unit. I am sorry that you are dissatisfied with the way in which this report was published.
The Surveillance Unit is a completely independant outside body and the Department of Health is committed to publishing their reports as soon as they become available. In the circumstances it is not the practice to circulate the report for comment since the findings of the report would not be amended. In future we can ensure that the British Deer Farmers Association receives a copy of the report in advance of publication.
The Chief Medical Officer has undertaken to keep the public fully informed of the results of any research in respect of CJD. This report was entirely the work of the unit and was produced completely independantly of the the Department.
The statistical results reqarding the consumption of venison was put into perspective in the body of the report and was not mentioned at all in the press release. Media attention regarding this report was low key but gave a realistic presentation of the statistical findings of the Unit. This approach to publication was successful in that consumption of venison was highlighted only once by the media ie. in the News at one television proqramme.
I believe that a further statement about the report, or indeed statistical links between CJD and consumption of venison, would increase, and quite possibly give damaging credence, to the whole issue. From the low key media reports of which I am aware it seems unlikely that venison consumption will suffer adversely, if at all.
http://web.archive.org/web/20030511010117/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1994/10/00003001.pdf
THIRD CJD REPORT UK 1994
snip...
Consumption of venison and veal was much less widespread among both cases and controls. For both of these meats, there was evidence of a trend with increasing frequency of consumption being associated with increasing risk of CJD. These associations were largely unchanged when attention was restricted to pairs with data obtained from relatives. ...
http://www.cjd.ed.ac.uk/Archive%20reports/report3.pdf
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Enhanced Surveillance Strategies for Detecting and Monitoring Chronic Wasting Disease in Free-Ranging Cervids Open-File Report 2012–1036 National Wildlife Health Center
Open-File Report 2012–1036
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2012/03/enhanced-surveillance-strategies-for.html
a few things to consider please. one, CWD has already been transmitted to many cattle in the lab (86% in one study). the oral route would have a much longer incubation period, but we already know that CWD will transmit back to cervids via the oral route, very efficiently. the threat of spreading CWD via close contact, like at feeding grounds is great. every bit of science to date shows this. so to congregate deer together by unnatural means is not smart in my opinion. another fear has come to pass as well, another strain of CWD, yes a second strain. and just recently science has shown that a natural case of BSE has been transmitted to a GOAT. These findings demonstrate that when CWD is directly inoculated into the brain of cattle, 86% of inoculated cattle develop clinical signs of the disease.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=194089
2012
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD WISCONSIN Almond Deer (Buckhorn Flats) Farm Update DECEMBER 2011
> > > The CWD infection rate was nearly 80%, the highest ever in a North American captive herd.
Despite the five year premise plan and site decontamination, The WI DNR has concerns over the bioavailability of infectious prions at this site to wild white-tail deer should these fences be removed. Current research indicates that prions can persist in soil for a minimum of 3 years.
However, Georgsson et al. (2006) concluded that prions that produced scrapie disease in sheep remained bioavailable and infectious for at least 16 years in natural Icelandic environments, most likely in contaminated soil.
Additionally, the authors reported that from 1978-2004, scrapie recurred on 33 sheep farms, of which 9 recurrences occurred 14-21 years after initial culling and subsequent restocking efforts; these findings further emphasize the effect of environmental contamination on sustaining TSE infectivity and that long-term persistence of prions in soils may be substantially greater than previously thought. < < <
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/nrboard/2011/december/12-11-2b2.pdf
SNIP...SEE FULL TEXT ;
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2011/12/chronic-wasting-disease-cwd-wisconsin.html
Thursday, February 09, 2012
50 GAME FARMS IN USA INFECTED WITH CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2012/02/50-game-farms-to-date-in-usa-infected.html
and when these game farms claim they are testing, and everything is o.k., think again...
Saturday, February 04, 2012
Wisconsin 16 age limit on testing dead deer Game Farm CWD Testing Protocol Needs To Be Revised
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2012/02/wisconsin-16-age-limit-on-testing-dead.html
National Wildlife Health Center
Open-File Report 2012–1036
U.S.
Enhanced Surveillance Strategies for Detecting and Monitoring Chronic Wasting Disease in Free-Ranging Cervids
snip...
In addition to locations of known CWD-positive individuals, other spatial risk factors related to CWD exposure should be considered. For example, the risk of free-ranging animals being exposed to CWD is likely greater in areas where captive cervid facilities have or had CWD-positive animals. Current evidence indicates that CWD infection rates are much higher in captive facilities than in wild populations (Keane and others, 2008), and perhaps this is driven by environmental contamination (Miller and others, 2006). This higher rate of infection in captive animals can increase the risk of disease exposure to surrounding wild populations. Furthermore, movement of infectious animals, carcasses, or other materials across the landscape, naturally or with human assistance, likely increases the risk to uninfected populations. The frequent movement of farmed elk (Cervus elaphus) and deer between production facilities, the concentration of infected animals on some facilities, and the possibility of their escape into the wild increases the risk of spreading CWD to uninfected populations of free-ranging animals. Because the infectious prions may persist in the environment for long periods, the introduction of either captive or free-ranging uninfected animals into a contaminated environment could increase their risk of infection. For example, locations from which sheep have been removed may remain contaminated with scrapie agent for more than 15 years (Georgsson and others, 2006).
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Enhanced Surveillance Strategies for Detecting and Monitoring Chronic Wasting Disease in Free-Ranging Cervids Open-File Report 2012–1036 National Wildlife Health Center
Open-File Report 2012–1036
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2012/03/enhanced-surveillance-strategies-for.html
UPDATED CORRESPONDENCE FROM AUTHORS OF THIS STUDY I.E. COLBY, PRUSINER ET AL, ABOUT MY CONCERNS OF THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THEIR FIGURES AND MY FIGURES OF THE STUDIES ON CWD TRANSMISSION TO CATTLE ;
----- Original Message -----
From: David Colby
To: flounder9@verizon.net
Cc: stanley@XXXXXXXX
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2011 8:25 AM
Subject: Re: FW: re-Prions David W. Colby1,* and Stanley B. Prusiner1,2 + Author Affiliations
Dear Terry Singeltary,
Thank you for your correspondence regarding the review article Stanley Prusiner and I recently wrote for Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives. Dr. Prusiner asked that I reply to your message due to his busy schedule. We agree that the transmission of CWD prions to beef livestock would be a troubling development and assessing that risk is important. In our article, we cite a peer-reviewed publication reporting confirmed cases of laboratory transmission based on stringent criteria. The less stringent criteria for transmission described in the abstract you refer to lead to the discrepancy between your numbers and ours and thus the interpretation of the transmission rate. We stand by our assessment of the literature--namely that the transmission rate of CWD to bovines appears relatively low, but we recognize that even a low transmission rate could have important implications for public health and we thank you for bringing attention to this matter.
Warm Regards, David Colby
--
David Colby, PhDAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Chemical EngineeringUniversity of Delaware
====================END...TSS==============
SNIP...SEE FULL TEXT ;
http://betaamyloidcjd.blogspot.com/2011/01/enlarging-spectrum-of-prion-like.html
UPDATED DATA ON 2ND CWD STRAIN
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
CWD PRION CONGRESS SEPTEMBER 8-11 2010
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2010/09/cwd-prion-2010.html
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Wisconsin Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, CWD, TSE, PRION REPORTING 2011
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/11/wisconsin-creutzfeldt-jakob-disease-cwd.html
Sunday, November 13, 2011
COLORADO CWD CJD TSE PRION REPORTING 2011
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/11/colorado-cwd-cjd-tse-prion-reporting.html
PLUS, THE CDC DID NOT PUT THIS WARNING OUT FOR THE WELL BEING OF THE DEER AND ELK ;
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Travel History, Hunting, and Venison Consumption Related to Prion Disease Exposure, 2006-2007 FoodNet Population Survey
Journal of the American Dietetic Association Volume 111, Issue 6 , Pages 858-863, June 2011.
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/05/travel-history-hunting-and-venison.html
NOR IS THE FDA recalling this CWD positive elk meat for the well being of the dead elk ;
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Noah's Ark Holding, LLC, Dawson, MN RECALL Elk products contain meat derived from an elk confirmed to have CWD NV, CA, TX, CO, NY, UT, FL, OK RECALLS AND FIELD CORRECTIONS: FOODS CLASS II
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/03/noahs-ark-holding-llc-dawson-mn-recall.html
now, let’s see what the authors said about this casual link, personal communications years ago. see where it is stated NO STRONG evidence. so, does this mean there IS casual evidence ????
“Our conclusion stating that we found no strong evidence of CWD transmission to humans”
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
Thursday, April 03, 2008
A prion disease of cervids: Chronic wasting disease
2008 1: Vet Res. 2008 Apr 3;39(4):41
A prion disease of cervids: Chronic wasting disease
Sigurdson CJ.
snip...
*** twenty-seven CJD patients who regularly consumed venison were reported to the Surveillance Center***,
snip...
full text ;
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2008/04/prion-disease-of-cervids-chronic.html
Monday, November 14, 2011
WYOMING Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, CWD, TSE, PRION REPORTING 2011
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/11/wyoming-creutzfeldt-jakob-disease-cwd.html
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Wisconsin Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, CWD, TSE, PRION REPORTING 2011
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/11/wisconsin-creutzfeldt-jakob-disease-cwd.html
Sunday, November 13, 2011
COLORADO CWD CJD TSE PRION REPORTING 2011
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/11/colorado-cwd-cjd-tse-prion-reporting.html
Sunday, February 12, 2012
National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center Cases Examined1 (August 19, 2011) including Texas
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2012/02/national-prion-disease-pathology.html
CWD waltzing across Texas from New Mexico
Monday, March 26, 2012
3 CASES OF CWD FOUND NEW MEXICO MULE DEER SEVERAL MILES FROM TEXAS BORDER
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2012/03/3-cases-of-cwd-found-new-mexico-mule.html
OLDER CWD REPORTS FROM NEW MEXICO
Chronic Wasting Disease Rules
Currently Apply to Unit 19 and Control Area of Unit 34 It is unlawful to transport dead deer or elk or their parts, taken from any Game Management Unit or other area designated by the Director in which the presence of or possibility of, exposure to chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been identified to any location outside that Game Management Unit except for the following parts of deer or elk: • Meat that is cut and wrapped either privately or commercially. • Quarters or other portions of meat with no part of the head or spinal column attached. • Meat that has been boned out. • Hides with no heads attached. • Clean skull plates with antlers attached. • Antlers with no meat or tissue attached. • Upper canine teeth, also known as “ivories.” • Finished heads mounted by a taxidermist. You may not remove the whole head and spinal column. You must keep proof of sex with all game species until you get the game to the place where it will be consumed or placed in cold storage.
For Control Area Map of Unit 34, go to:
www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/documents/CWDcontrolarea2006.pdf/.
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/publications/documents/rib/2011/2011-2012_Big_Game_RIB_Optimized2.pdf
Wildlife Health Section
Chronic Wasting Disease
During the 2008-2009 hunting season, two deer harvested on McGregor Range were found to have Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). Tissue samples from the deer were obtained at a hunter check station. A single deer with CWD was harvested from private land south of Timberon. The deer was found through the voluntary hunter harvest surveillance. A single, free-ranging wild elk from the Rio Penasco area of Unit 34 showed symptoms consistent with CWD during spring of 2009. This elk was collected and CWD subsequently was confirmed.
Since CWD was detected in 2002, 26 deer and 3 elk have been confirmed with the disease. The Department will test for CWD when hunters bring freshly harvested deer or elk heads to any Department office or to any conservation officer. Testing is free to hunters, and hunters are notified when test results are positive.
CWD seems to be established in the area of White Sands Missile Range, the adjacent Organ Mountains and in the Sacramento Mountains surrounding the village of Timberon. Tests from all other areas of New Mexico continue to be negative.
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/publications/documents/annual_report/AnnualReport08-09_optimized.pdf
TSS
News Release Media Contact: Steve Lightfoot, 512-389-4701, steve.lightfoot@tpwd.state.tx.us
March 26, 2012
Texas Prepares for CWD Possibility in Far West Texas
AUSTIN — The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) has informed Texas officials that three mule deer harvested a few miles from the Texas border last hunting season have tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).
The deer were harvested in the Hueco Mountains, which extend into Texas northeast of El Paso in Hudspeth County. New Mexico has been monitoring annually for CWD since it was first discovered 10 years ago and this event is the closest to Texas that the disease has been detected. Texas also has had an active CWD-surveillance program for the past decade, and CWD has not yet been detected in the state. However, state wildlife officials have been preparing for the possibility since 2002.
“While this finding is not a big surprise, we’re not going to ignore it,” said Mitch Lockwood, Big Game Program Director for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “We are working with TPWD’s Wildlife Health Working Group to develop a more intensive strategy for sampling, and to determine the geographical extent of the disease if it is detected in Texas.”
The Wildlife Health Working Group is comprised of wildlife biologists, veterinarians and other animal-health experts from TPWD, Texas Animal Health Commission, Department of State Health Services, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine, and USDA. NMDGF is also involved in the discussion.
While several thousand deer have been tested for CWD in Texas, wildlife officials express concern that the Trans Pecos region is underrepresented because of the very low number of deer and the relatively low deer harvest in that region. Samples are obtained from hunter-harvested deer, deer found dead on public roadways, and deer showing clinical symptoms. TPWD is determining how many more deer need to be sampled and deer hunters in the region could be asked for their assistance during the next hunting season.
“We are using disease models to determine the intensity of sampling that would be required to detect CWD in that deer population if it is present with a prevalence of at least two percent,” said Ryan Schoeneberg, Big Game Program Specialist with TPWD.
CWD was first recognized in 1967 in captive mule deer in Colorado and has also been documented in captive and/or free-ranging deer in nearly two dozen states and Canadian provinces, including New Mexico. Although fatal in deer, there is no evidence that CWD poses a risk to humans or livestock in the natural environment.
CWD is a member of the group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Other diseases in this group include scrapie in sheep and goats, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or mad cow disease) in cattle, and Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease in people. CWD is a progressive, fatal disease that affects deer, elk, moose, and other cervid species and there is no vaccine or other biological method that prevents it.
“It would be almost impossible to eradicate the disease once it becomes established in a population,” said Lockwood. “But, what we can do is manage the disease and minimize the risk of it spreading.”
More information on CWD can be found on TPWD’s website, www.tpwd.state.tx.us or at the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website, http://www.cwd-info.org.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20120326b&nrtype=all&nrspan=2012&nrsearch=
New Mexico Wildlife
VOL. 55, NO. 4 — Winter 2011
CWD testing continues statewide
The Department of Game and Fish confirmed two new cases of chronic wasting disease – one deer and one elk – in 2010, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 27 mule deer and four elk since CWD first was detected in New Mexico in 2002.
Kerry Mower, Department wildlife disease specialist, said both cases occurred within the known range of the disease in New Mexico – White Sands Missile Range, its eastern neighbor, Game Management Unit 34 in the Sacramento Mountains, and McGregor Range to the south. The deer was tested after being captured on McGregor Range. It was later found dead. The elk was an abnormal animal reported to the Department by a homeowner in the Sacramento Mountains.
Chronic wasting disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy disorder known to affect only deer, elk and moose. In the final stages of the disease, an animal with CWD exhibits a drooping head and ears, lethargy and chronic weight loss. CWD is always fatal to deer and elk, but there is no evidence that it ever has been transmitted to humans or domestic livestock.
To date, CWD seems to be centered in the Organ-San Andres Mountains complex and the Sacramento Mountains of south-central New Mexico, with cases radiating outward. The Department continues to monitor and test for the disease by examining hunter-harvested and live animals in areas of concern.
Mower said despite a surge of initial concern when the disease was first discovered, hunters seem to have become less worried about CWD.
“In the field, most hunters readily participate by allowing tissues to be removed from their carcass, but after leaving the field, they are unlikely to expend additional effort to deliver a harvested deer or elk head for testing,” Mower said. During 2010-2011 hunting seasons, CWD tissue collection stations were open for hunters leaving the Sacramento and Guadalupe Mountains of southern New Mexico and for hunters leaving the Cabresto and Carracas Mesa areas in the north. All testing is voluntary and free to hunters statewide. Hunters also can bring freshly killed animal heads to Department offices for testing.
Although most testing is done on dead deer or elk, testing on live animals increased in 2010 with the capture and release of deer and elk in Timberon, on McGregor Range and on Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Tonsil or rectal tissues from live animals are sent to Veterinary Diagnostic Services, part of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture. Tested animals are fitted with radio transmitters so they can be located if CWD is detected in a tissue biopsy. Test results from more than 300 deer and elk in 2010 are pending.
Mower said hunters play an important role in the monitoring of CWD by participating in the testing programs. Nonhunters can participate by reporting deer or elk that are acting unusual. Anyone who finds a deer or elk that appears unaware of human presence and displays symptoms including droopy ears, emaciation, chronic thirst, frequent urination, and reluctance to leave water, should report their observations to the Department of Game and Fish, Wildlife Management Division, (505) 476-8038.
Bosque del Apache elk focus of latest CWD tests
A growing elk population along the Rio Grande bosque in central New Mexico has prompted the state’s latest investigation into the spread of chronic wasting disease among deer and elk.
In early November, the Department of Game and Fish and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began capturing elk at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife refuge in a joint effort to test for CWD and also determine the size of the herd.
Currently, no elk hunting is allowed in the refuge north of Socorro, allowing the population to steadily grow. Refuge Wildlife Biologist John Vandrenburg said 40 to 50 elk now live in the refuge and are beginning to damage corn and alfalfa fields. One purpose of the current study, he said, is to evaluate whether hunting is a viable option to control the herd. The refuge already offers limited hunting for deer, oryx and small game.
Such isolated, protected and growing populations of deer and elk worry Kerry Mower, Department wildlife disease specialist.
“It’s a classic situation of a high density of deer and elk where CWD could spread widely and quickly through the population,” Mower said. “Plus, we found a single positive case of CWD in a deer in the Stallion Range of White Sands Missile Range 20 to 25 miles away.”
Using a helicopter, Mower and veterinarian Jeannie Ross darted and radiocollared 14 refuge elk in late October. Tissues from each animal were taken to be tested for CWD. It was the first time the Department took rectal tissues from live elk to be tested. Previous tests were from dead animals.
Mower said he hopes to capture and test another 16 elk when the project continues in mid-February, after thousands of sandhill cranes and snow geese leave the refuge.
Need some motivation to turn in your deer or elk head for chronic wasting disease testing? How about a 1 in 100 chance at an oryx hunt on White Sands Missile Range? Or an opportunity to hunt elk on the Valle Vidal? “Many hunters don’t realize that their odds of winning one of these CWD incentive license authorizations are much better than if they go through the regular draw,” said Kerry Mower, wildlife disease specialist for the Department of Game and Fish.
Last year, 221 deer and elk hunters were eligible for the CWD incentive drawing. Two were awarded authorizations to purchase licenses – one for oryx, another for a Valle Vidal bull elk hunt. Another bonus: The highly valued authorizations are transferrable, meaning the drawing winners can sell, trade or give them away. Unlike regular hunts for those areas, these are not once-in-a-lifetime, and the oryx hunter can choose his or her season.
Hunters wishing to participate in the CWD testing must deliver their freshly harvested deer or elk head to any Department office or field collection station so tissues can be collected. Hunters will be contacted if their deer or elk tests positive for CWD. There is no evidence that CWD ever has been transmitted to humans.
For more information about chronic wasting disease in New Mexico, please visit www. wildlife.state.nm.us.
Test your head, boost your odds for oryx, elk tags
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/publications/documents/NM_Wildlife/archives/winter2011.pdf
CWD found in NM deer — Texas taking note
Monday, 26 March 2012 08:57 Edited for web by Conor Harrison
NOT HERE YET: Officials in New Mexico have found evidence of chronic wasting disease in three harvested mule deer near the Texas border. Texas officials are monitoring the disease, and may request hunter help next season. Photo by David J. Sams, LSON. Texas officials have been warned that three recently harvested mule deer taken in New Mexico, several miles from Texas, have tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease.
The deer were harvested in the Hueco Mountains, which extend into Texas northeast of El Paso in Hudspeth County. New Mexico has been monitoring annually for CWD since it was first discovered 10 years ago and this event is the closest to Texas that the disease has been detected. Texas also has had an active CWD-surveillance program for the past decade, and CWD has not yet been detected in the state. However, state wildlife officials have been preparing for the possibility since 2002.
“While this finding is not a big surprise, we’re not going to ignore it,” said Mitch Lockwood, Big Game Program Director for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “We are working with TPWD’s Wildlife Health Working Group to develop a more intensive strategy for sampling, and to determine the geographical extent of the disease if it is detected in Texas.”
While several thousand deer have been tested for CWD in Texas, wildlife officials express concern that the Trans Pecos region is underrepresented because of the very low number of deer and the relatively low deer harvest in that region. Samples are obtained from hunter-harvested deer, deer found dead on public roadways and deer showing clinical symptoms. TPWD is determining how many more deer need to be sampled and deer hunters in the region could be asked for their assistance during the next hunting season.
“We are using disease models to determine the intensity of sampling that would be required to detect CWD in that deer population if it is present with a prevalence of at least two percent,” said Ryan Schoeneberg, Big Game Program Specialist with TPWD.
CWD was first recognized in 1967 in captive mule deer in Colorado and has also been documented in captive and/or free-ranging deer in nearly two dozen states and Canadian provinces, including New Mexico. Although fatal in deer, there is no evidence that CWD poses a risk to humans or livestock in the natural environment.
CWD is a member of the group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Other diseases in this group include scrapie in sheep and goats, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (or mad cow disease) in cattle, and Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease in people. CWD is a progressive, fatal disease that affects deer, elk, moose, and other cervid species and there is no vaccine or other biological method that prevents it.
“It would be almost impossible to eradicate the disease once it becomes established in a population,” Lockwood said. “But, what we can do is manage the disease and minimize the risk of it spreading.”
http://www.lsonews.com/hunting-news/2087-edited-for-web-by-conor-harrison
O.K, MAYBE TEXAS OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN WARNED, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE HUNTERS ET AL ???
SEEMS NEW MEXICO OR TEXAS DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT ???
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/
I am deeply concerned with these CWD mad deer so close to the Texas border. WHAT keeps them from crossing the border to Texas ??? IF these illegal aliens can so easily cross our borders, why not these infected deer? maybe we should get these minute men to start watching for mad deer coming in to Texas from New Mexico.
I mentioned my concerns several other times before;
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/03/tpwd-still-searching-for-cwd-program.html
----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2006 1:47 PM
Subject: CWD in New Mexico 35 MILES FROM TEXAS BORDER and low testing sampling figures -- what gives TAHC ???
http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0612&L=sanet-mg&P=23557
THREE NEW CASES OF CWD were announced in this same location this month ;. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, JULY 7, 2006:. 3 SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO DEER TEST POSITIVE FOR ...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr." <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2006 1:47 PM
Subject: CWD in New Mexico 35 MILES FROM TEXAS BORDER and low testing sampling figures -- what gives TAHC ???
Subject: CWD in New Mexico 35 MILES FROM TEXAS BORDER and low testing sampling figures -- what gives TAHC ???
Date: December 23, 2006 at 11:25 am PST
Greetings BSE-L members,
i never know if i am going crazy or just more of the same BSe. several years ago i brought up the fact to the TAHC that CWD was literally at the Texas borders and that the sample size for cwd testing was no where near enough in the location of that zone bordering NM. well, i just wrote them another letter questioning this again on Dec. 14, 2006 (see below) and showed them two different pdf maps, one referencing this url, which both worked just fine then. since then, i have NOT received a letter from them answering my question, and the url for the map i used as reference is no longer working? i had reference this map several times from the hunter-kill cwd sampling as of 31 August 2005 pdf which NO longer works now??? but here are those figures for that zone bordering NM, for those that were questioning the url. the testing samples elsewhere across Texas where much much more than that figure in the zone bordering NM where CWD has been documented bordering TEXAS, near the White Sands Missile Range. SO, why was the Texas hunter-kill cwd sampling as of 31 August 2005 document removed from the internet??? you know, this reminds me of the infamous TEXAS MAD COW that i documented some 7 or 8 months before USDA et al documented it, when the TAHC accidentally started ramping up for the announcement on there web site, then removed it (see history at bottom). i am not screaming conspiracy here, but confusious is confused again on the ciphering there using for geographical distribution of cwd tissue sample size survey, IF they are serious about finding CWD in TEXAS. common sense would tell you if cwd is 35 miles from the border, you would not run across state and have your larger samples there, and least samples 35 miles from where is what found..........daaa..........TSS
THEN NOTICE CWD sample along that border in TEXAS, Three Year Summary of Hunter-Kill CWD sampling as of 31 August 2005 of only 191 samples, then compare to the other sample locations ;
http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/animal_health/diseases/cwd/CWD_Sampling_Aug2005.pdf
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:rH-1sQfZqtQJ:www.ngpc.state.ne.us/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%3Bf%3D12%3Bt%3D000492+Texas+hunter+kill+sample+for+CWD+to+Aug+31,+2005&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3
TPWD has been conducting surveys of hunter-kill animals since 2002 and has collected more than 7300 samples (as of 31 August 2005). In total, there have been over 9400 samples, both hunter-kill and private samples, tested in Texas to date, and no positives have been found.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/
SO, out of a total of 9,400 samples taken for CWD surveillance in TEXAS since 2002 of both hunter-kill and private kill, ONLY 191 samples have been taken in the most likely place one would find CWD i.e. the border where CWD has been documented at TEXAS and New Mexico
latest map NM cwd old data
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/where_is_it.htm
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/cwd_map.htm
CWD in New Mexico ;
What is the Department doing to
prevent the spread of CWD?
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) was recently
detected in a mule deer from
Unit 34. Until 2005, CWD had only been found
in Unit 19. With this discovery, the Department
will increase its surveillance of deer and elk
harvested in Units 29, 30 and 34.
Lymph nodes and/or brain stems from every
harvested deer and brain stems from all elk
taken in Unit 34 will be sampled.
snip...
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/documents/cwd_flyer.pdf
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/documents/cwdmap.pdf
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahps/cwd/cwd-distribution.html
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/documents/CWD_QandA.pdf
CWD SURVEILLANCE TEXAS
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us//huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/management_plan/status/
IMPLEMENTATION OF A GEOGRAPHICALLY FOCUSED CWD SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM FOR FREE-RANGING CERVIDS
A geographically-focused free-ranging cervid Monitoring Program was implemented during the fall 2002 deer-hunting season. Brain stem samples from hunter-killed deer will be obtained from TPWD Wildlife Management Areas (WMA), State Parks, and where otherwise available with hunter and/or landowner permission, from deer taken on private land. Volume 1, Sixth Edition of United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, Regulatory Statistics (Appendix D1) indicates that 148 samples is sufficient to detect disease at two per-cent prevalence, regardless of the population size. Therefore the goal is to acquire 148 samples from each of the State's ten ecoregions provided adequate sampling distribution is achieved across each ecoregion. The five year 2002 -2006, goal is to cumulatively collect 459 samples from each of the ten ecoregions. The cumulative sample would be used statistically to detect CWD at one per-cent prevalence level with 99 per-cent confidence. However, funding from APHIS/USDA could provide the necessary funds for sampling at the one per-cent prevalence level each year. TAHC conducted a risk assessment of counties where deer and elk have been imported and where high densities of free-ranging deer occur. The assessment was conducted for USDA funding consideration. The risk assessment was based on limited number of criteria. Since CWD could potentially occur anywhere in Texas, monitoring efforts would be focused to achieve a stratified sampling scheme across each ecoregion of the State.
Confidentiality laws restrict the type of data TPWD personnel can collect as it relates to a specific parcel of land. Therefore, personnel will ensure that no property specific information is collected (i.e. ranch name or exact location) without the landowner's written permission. The following are guidelines for data and sample collection distributed to TPWD personnel prior to sample collection:
A Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) Accession Form must be submitted with brain stem samples. The most important items to be filled out are the TPWD employee name, address and phone number, and "Patient/Deer ID". County of Kill can be recorded on the bottom of the form, but DO NOT report any information that identifies the specific parcel of land. The "Patient/Deer ID" number MUST BE specific to the field data sheet the employee is using to record data. Specific CWD field data sheets will not be provided, as current field data sheets (i.e. Age/Weight Antler Data Sheets, Hunter Check Station Data Sheets, etc.) will be appropriate in most cases. Field staff may produce their own CWD data sheet if necessary. The field data sheet must contain: Employee Name Sample Number (same as Patient/Deer ID on TVMDL Accession Form Sample Date Deer Age Deer Sex County of Kill Hunter Name Hunting License Number Ranch name or tract name/location ONLY with landowner permission. Should a CWD positive be detected, TAHC will use hunter contact information to conduct CWD investigation under their regulatory authority. Make sure the container containing the brain stem sample is legibly identified with the sample number, deer age and sex, county of kill and date. Although the sample number is all that is needed, additional information will help resolve any problems should batches of samples be combined. Should a landowner retain deer heads for our sampling purposes, remind the landowner to issue the hunters a proof of sex document as provided for in TAHC 65.10 (c). In addition, a Wildlife resource document (PWD 905) must accompany the head until the carcass reaches a final destination and finally processed. Samples MAY NOT be taken from legally harvested deer without the hunter's consent.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us//huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/management_plan/implementation/
ACTIONS SHOULD A CWD POSITIVE BE DETECTED Should sampling detect a CWD positive animal, TAHC and TPWD would activate the Media Response Plan (Appendix F). TAHC and TPWD would immediately begin review of the information at hand and determine the action to be taken within the Response Plan (Appendix C.) The first action should be to inform landowners adjacent to the property containing the CWD positive and hold a meeting with advisory committees and affected landowner to discuss plans for secondary sampling. Planning for secondary sampling, investigating movements of deer into and away from property for further actions would then be the next step. The secondary sampling is critical for determining distribution and prevalence of the disease.
As distribution and prevalence is being determined, information review and discussions with TPWD advisory committees (e.g., Private Lands Advisory Board, Hunting Advisory Committee, White-tailed Deer Advisory Committee etc.) and landowners would take place in order to determine the appropriate management action to be taken.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us//huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/management_plan/detection/
and the discovery of several CWD positive mule deer in New Mexico, approximately 35 miles north of the Texas border were well out of the known boundaries of the disease.
The disease prevalence appears to be increasing in localized areas, although it is not clear whether this is due to increased incidence, or increased surveillance, reporting, and testing. Information from states with direct experience in managing CWD is being used for developing Texas plans as we learn from their experiences.
TPWD and TAHC are developing stepped up targeted and geographically-focused surveillance plans to monitor free-ranging deer for the presence of the disease and a rapid response plan to guide both TPWD and TAHC should CWD be detected in the State. TPWD and TAHC are also evaluating cervid management laws, rules, and policies for free ranging and scientific breeder permitted cervids under their authority to identify issues and potential weaknesses related to disease management. In these efforts, TPWD and TAHC will work with other agencies and organizations responsible for or are concerned about cervid disease management in an attempt to ensure comprehensive approaches to effective management of CWD risks (see Appendix C: Importation of Susceptible Cervids).
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/management_plan/plan/
----- Original Message -----
From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 9:52 PM
Subject: cwd at Texas border and low sampling figures ???
Greetings TAHC,
can someone please explain to me any reasoning at all for the very low sampling for CWD which have been taken where CWD is literally right at the steps of one of Texas borders, but yet across the state elsewhere, the numbers for testing increases ???
i do not understand the low sampling for cwd size where it is at our borders, compared to the highter numbers elsewhere???
see Texas hunter kill sample for CWD to Aug 31, 2005
http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/animal_health/diseases/cwd/CWD_Sampling_Aug2005.pdf
see map where CWD has been documented at Texas border in free ranging deer and elk
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahps/cwd/images/counties_lg.jpg
kind regards,
Terry
SNIP...SEE FULL TEXT ;
http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0612&L=sanet-mg&P=23557
Subject: CWD 3 NEW CASES SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO
Date: July 10, 2006 at 8:51 am PST
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/Comments/2006-0011/2006-0011-1.pdf
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
Sunday, October 04, 2009
CWD NEW MEXICO SPREADING SOUTH TO TEXAS 2009
2009 Summary of Chronic Wasting Disease in New Mexico New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/10/cwd-new-mexico-spreading-south-to-texas.html
----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."
To:
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2005 6:51 PM
Subject: CWD TWO NEW CASES NEAR WHITE SANDS MISSLE RANGE NEW MEXICO
##################### Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy #####################
From: TSS
Subject: CWD TWO NEW CASES NEAR WHITE SANDS MISSLE RANGE NEW MEXICO
Date: June 27, 2005 at 4:43 pm PST
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Contact: Dan Williams, (505) 476-8004
dan.williams@state.nm.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, JUNE 24, 2005:
TWO MULE DEER TEST POSITIVE FOR CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE
ANGLER LANDS STATE RECORD BLUE CATFISH AT ELEPHANT BUTTE LAKE
TWO MULE DEER TEST POSITIVE FOR CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE
SANTA FE – Two mule deer captured in the Organ Mountains as part of an ongoing research project near White Sands Missile Range have tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease that attacks the brains of infected deer and elk, the Department of Game and Fish announced.
The number of confirmed CWD cases in New Mexico now stands at 11 since 2002, when the disease was first confirmed in a deer found near the eastern foothills of the Organ Mountains. All 11 CWD-infected deer were found in the same general area of southern New Mexico. The origin of the disease in New Mexico remains unknown.
The carcasses of the infected deer will be incinerated, said Kerry Mower, the Department’s lead wildlife disease biologist.
Chronic wasting disease causes animals to become emaciated, display abnormal behavior, lose bodily functions and die. The disease has been found in wild deer and elk, and in captive deer and elk, in eight states and two Canadian provinces. There currently is no evidence of CWD being transmitted to humans or livestock.
Mower said the most recent CWD-positive deer showed no obvious physical signs of having the disease. They were captured in April 2005 and tested as part of a 3-year-old research project studying deer population dynamics in southern New Mexico. More than 140 deer have been captured alive and tested for the study, in which researchers hope to find the cause of a 10-year decline in the area deer population. Study participants include the Department of Game and Fish, the U.S. Army at White Sands Missile Range and Fort Bliss, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Geological Survey at New Mexico State University, and San Andres National Wildlife Refuge.
Hunters can assist the Department in its CWD research and prevention efforts by bringing their fresh, legally harvested deer or elk head to an area office, where officers will remove the brain stem for testing. Participants will be eligible for drawings for an oryx hunt on White Sands Missile Range and a trophy elk hunt on the Valle Vidal.
For more information about the drawing and chronic wasting disease, visit the Department web site at
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/.
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/publications/press_releases/documents/0624CWDandcatfish.pdf
SEE MAP ;
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/documents/cwdmap.pdf
Greetings list members,
I am deeply concerned with these CWD mad deer so close to the Texas border. WHAT keeps them from crossing the border to Texas ??? IF these illegal aliens can so easily cross our borders, why not these infected deer? maybe we should get these minute men to start watching for mad deer coming in to Texas from New Mexico.
I mentioned my concerns several other times before;
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Current status of CWD testing in Texas
Date: Tue, 10 May 2005 09:09:47 –0500
From: "kschwaus"
To:
Mr. Singeltary,
I was asked to provide you with the following information. If you have any other questions regarding CWD sampling in Texas, please do not hesitate to give me a call. My office number is below.
Below I have included a chart showing CWD samples that have been tested since the fall of 2002 through the present at the eco-region level. The second chart shows the totals on a given year. The unknown location samples come from private individuals sending in samples directly to the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Lab (TVMDL). Due to the confidentiality laws that the TVMDL operates under, they are unable to provide TPWD with the location of those samples.
Region Population Estimate
Sampling from Fall 2002 to Present
Pineywoods
502,521
975
Gulf Prairie
90,664
441
Post Oak Savannah
291,119
1146
Black Land Prairies
54,505
153
Cross Timbers
441,031
1015
Edwards Plateau
1,608,390
1618
South Texas Plains
500,183
1253
Rolling Plains
231,358
352
High Plains
49,981
81
Trans Pecos
148,174
173
Unknown Location
1,896
Total
3,917,926
9,103
Samples Collected By
2002-03
2003-04
2004-Present
TPWD
1,722
2,955
2,540
Private (unknown location)
326
608
952
Total
2,048
3,563
3,492
Thank you,
Kevin Schwausch
Big Game Program Specialist
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
PO Box 1394
Burnet, TX 78611
512-756-4476
===============================
I would like to thank Kevin and TPWD for there prompt reply with updated data.
I am still concerned about the Texas, New Mexico border and New Mexico's apparent lack of CWD testing updates. Makes one wonder about there CWD testing program. NO report/reply back from New Mexico about there CWD testing update yet. ...
TSS
===================
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: CWD SURVEILLANCE TEXAS UPDATE (kinda)
Date: Mon, 9 May 2005 14:52:48 –0500
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."
Reply-To: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
To: BSE-L@aegee.org
##################### Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy #####################
IMPLEMENTATION OF A GEOGRAPHICALLY FOCUSED CWD SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM FOR FREE-RANGING CERVIDS
A geographically-focused free-ranging cervid Monitoring Program was implemented during the fall 2002 deer-hunting season. Brain stem samples from hunter-killed deer will be obtained from TPWD Wildlife Management Areas (WMA), State Parks, and where otherwise available with hunter and/or landowner permission, from deer taken on private land. Volume 1, Sixth Edition of United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, Regulatory Statistics (Appendix D1 ) indicates that 148 samples is sufficient to detect disease at two per-cent prevalence, regardless of the population size. Therefore the goal is to acquire 148 samples from each of the State's ten ecoregions provided adequate sampling distribution is achieved across each ecoregion. The five year 2002 -2006, goal is to cumulatively collect 459 samples from each of the ten ecoregions. The cumulative sample would be used statistically to detect CWD at one per-cent prevalence level with 99 per-cent confidence. However, funding from APHIS/USDA could provide the necessary funds for sampling at the one per-cent prevalence level each year. TAHC conducted a risk assessment of counties where deer and elk have been imported and where high densities of free-ranging deer occur. The assessment was conducted for USDA funding consideration. The risk assessment was based on limited number of criteria. Since CWD could potentially occur anywhere in Texas, monitoring efforts would be focused to achieve a stratified sampling scheme across each ecoregion of the State.
Confidentiality laws restrict the type of data TPWD personnel can collect as it relates to a specific parcel of land. Therefore, personnel will ensure that no property specific information is collected (i.e. ranch name or exact location) without the landowner's written permission. The following are guidelines for data and sample collection distributed to TPWD personnel prior to sample collection:
1. A Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) Accession Form must be submitted with brain stem samples.
2. The most important items to be filled out are the TPWD employee name, address and phone number, and "Patient/Deer ID". County of Kill can be recorded on the bottom of the form, but DO NOT report any information that identifies the specific parcel of land.
3. The "Patient/Deer ID" number MUST BE specific to the field data sheet the employee is using to record data.
4. Specific CWD field data sheets will not be provided, as current field data sheets (i.e. Age/Weight Antler Data Sheets, Hunter Check Station Data Sheets, etc.) will be appropriate in most cases. Field staff may produce their own CWD data sheet if necessary.
5. The field data sheet must contain:
1. Employee Name
2. Sample Number (same as Patient/Deer ID on TVMDL Accession Form
3. Sample Date
4. Deer Age
5. Deer Sex 6. County of Kill
7. Hunter Name
8. Hunting License Number
9. Ranch name or tract name/location ONLY with landowner permission.
6. Should a CWD positive be detected, TAHC will use hunter contact information to conduct CWD investigation under their regulatory authority.
7. Make sure the container containing the brain stem sample is legibly identified with the sample number, deer age and sex, county of kill and date. Although the sample number is all that is needed, additional information will help resolve any problems should batches of samples be combined.
8. Should a landowner retain deer heads for our sampling purposes, remind the landowner to issue the hunters a proof of sex document as provided for in TAHC 65.10 (c). In addition, a Wildlife resource document (PWD 905) must accompany the head until the carcass reaches a final destination and finally processed.
9. Samples MAY NOT be taken from legally harvested deer without the hunter's consent.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/implementation/
ACTIONS SHOULD A CWD POSITIVE BE DETECTED
Should sampling detect a CWD positive animal, TAHC and TPWD would activate the Media Response Plan (Appendix F).
TAHC and TPWD would immediately begin review of the information at hand and determine the action to be taken within the Response Plan (Appendix C.) The first action should be to inform landowners adjacent to the property containing the CWD positive and hold a meeting with advisory committees and affected landowner to discuss plans for secondary sampling. Planning for secondary sampling, investigating movements of deer into and away from property for further actions would then be the next step. The secondary sampling is critical for determining distribution and prevalence of the disease.
As distribution and prevalence is being determined, information review and discussions with TPWD advisory committees (e.g., Private Lands Advisory Board, Hunting Advisory Committee, White-tailed Deer Advisory Committee etc.) and landowners would take place in order to determine the appropriate management action to be taken.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/detection/
APPENDIX A: Results of CWD Sampling
Sampling and testing results for CWD from June, 2002 to April 1, 2003 are presented below:
Sampling and testing results for CWD from June, 2002 to April 1, 2003 TPWD TAHC Private Sector 1349 CWD Negative Deer 335 CWD Negative Deer 336 CWD Negative Deer 23 CWD Negative Exotics No Exotics No Exotics 1372 Total 335 Total 336 Total
The Grand Total of all samples collected and known 4/1/03 is 2043 of which 2020 deer and 23 exotics were found CWD negative. Samples were collected from 143 of 254 counties in Texas, and seven counties had 50 or more samples collected. Five ecoregions had 160 or more samples collected (150 samples from each ecoregion was the goal). The geographic distribution of sampling is currently not considered adequate for determining whether or not CWD exists in Texas (see map pg. 15). The goal is to improve upon distribution of samples collected within ecoregions and within counties. The goal of 2003-2004 and the next three to five years, is to collect 5000 samples (500 from each ecoregion) each sample year. The increased sampling is to have a 99 per-cent confidence level in detecting CWD if only one per-cent of the population is infected. Long-term surveillance sampling for CWD is required, as little is known about the incubation and infectious periods of the disease.
fig1AppendixA (18K)
SEE MAP OF TEXAS CWD TESTING
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/images/fig1AppendixA.png
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/appendix_a/
APPENDIX B: Chronic Wasting Disease - Status of Current Knowledge
Occurrence and Distribution
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, which is a disease that alters the structure of the brain, in a way that resembles a sponge-like appearance and texture. Much is not known about CWD, including its origin, exact mode of transmission, and the causative or etiological agent. The source of CWD may be related in some way to scrapie in domestic sheep; it may "represent a spontaneous, naturally occurring" form of this disease in cervids thought to be caused by a "low virus infection." A more plausible theory is that CWD is caused by a point mutation of a membrane-bound protein resulting in accumulations of proteinase-resistant proteins called "prions" in the brain (medulla oblongata), tonsils (in deer only), and lymphoid tissue.
The only known long-term distribution of CWD in free-ranging susceptible cervids includes two contiguous local areas in northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming. Up to 15% and less than 1% prevalence were reported for mule deer and elk, respectively, in certain management units. Two cases of CWD occurred in mule deer in the southwestern corner of the panhandle of Nebraska, which is close to the endemic area of Colorado and Wyoming. Both of these latter animals were close enough to have originated from the endemic area. More recently, CWD was diagnosed in deer in Nebraska within and outside a fenced pasture of a captive operation where elk were diagnosed with the disease. Infections in captive elk also have been documented in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Kansas. In early 2002, CWD was detected in free-ranging white-tailed deer in South Dakota and Wisconsin, later the disease was found in breeder pens in northern Wisconsin. Cases of CWD have been documented in captive elk and free ranging mule deer in Saskatchewan and Ontario as well. New Mexico discovered CWD in a free-ranging mule deer on the White Sands Missile Range, Minnesota found CWD in a captive elk herd, Illinois detected CWD in a free-ranging white-tailed deer and an infected white-tailed deer was found in a breeding facility in Alberta.
Incubation, Transmission, and Clinical Course of CWD
Incubation time, that time from infection to appearance of clinical signs, typically is less than 2 years (18-24 months). However, incubation time can be variable and ranges up to 36 months. The exact mode of transmission of CWD is unknown; however, circumstantial and experimental data indicate horizontal (or lateral) transmission in captive susceptible cervids, either by direct animal-to-animal contact or by environmental contamination. For susceptible cervids, the routes of transmission are presumed to be by exposure to saliva, urine, feces, or placental tissue, with infection occurring through the alimentary canal (mouth/nose - esophagus - stomach - intestines). If this transmission mode is confirmed for free-ranging deer or elk, it could potentially exacerbate the risk of infection. In contrast to outbreaks of mad cow disease, where exposure to animal protein-contaminated feed was documented, this has not been the case for captive or wild cervids infected with CWD. Presently, feed contamination is not considered a likely underlying transmission mechanism. Whereas, the importance of maternal transmission (mother to fetus or nursing young) as a mode of scrapie transmission in domestic sheep has at least been debated, its importance relative to CWD persistence in captive and wild cervid herds has been contraindicated thus far by current reports. Although the route of agent shedding from infected individuals is presently unknown, it is believed that the rate of agent shedding may very well increase as the disease progresses. Thus far, evidence also indicates that there is no difference between males and females or across age classes in susceptibility to CWD.
Importantly, natural transmission of TSEs (i.e., BSE, CWD) between domesticated bovines (i.e., cattle, bison), sheep and cervids has not been documented. Deer, domestic cattle and sheep have been experimentally inoculated with brain tissue containing (PrP(res)) from CWD - infected mule deer, and 2 years later, only the deer have become infected with CWD. However, healthy deer have been inoculated with brain tissue from scrapie-infected sheep, and the deer developed spongiform encephalopathy.
The clinical course of CWD is about 12 months. That is, once clinical signs are apparent, cervids rarely survive more than 12 months. Chronic wasting disease is a progressive, fatal disease, with no vaccine to prevent the disease or treatment for reversing the disease (recovery), and there is no evidence of immunity. There has been no effective, practical ante mortem (live-animal) test for diagnosis until recently; a live-test for deer (not elk) involving tonsil biopsy and immunohistochemical analysis for (PrR (res)) accumulation has demonstrated promise, and may be more sensitive than the post-mortem analysis of the obex of the medulla oblongata in the brain. The practicality of this test remains to be decided.
Clinical Signs of CWD
All signs or symptoms of CWD do not occur in all cases, and many of these signs are symptoms of other diseases and conditions as well. Further, the occurrence and severity of symptoms will depend in part on the stage (early versus advanced) of the disease. Below is a comprehensive list of the clinical signs of CWD: (1) loss of fear of humans; (2) nervousness or hyper-excitability; (3) teeth-grinding; (4) ataxia or loss of coordination; (5) notable weakness; (6) intractability; (7) inability to stand; (8) rough dull hair coat; (9) excessive salivation; (10) flaccid, hypotonia of the facial muscles; (11) drooping of the head and ears; (12) excessive thirst (polydipsia); (13) excessive urination (polyuria); (14) esophageal hypotonia and dilation, difficulty swallowing, and regurgitating ruminal fluid and ingesta; and (15) severe emaciation and dehydration.
It is important to note that while some primary symptoms may be directly related to CWD, others may be secondary, more of a consequence of the deteriorating body condition (emaciation) and related physiology (e.g., pneumonia, abscesses, enteritis, or internal parasitism that may often cause emaciation).
Pathological Signs of CWD
Pathological signs of the disease include: (1) emaciation associated with absence or serous atrophy of subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue or fat, and yellow gelatinous bone marrow; (2) sub acute to chronic bronchopneumonia; (3) digestive tract (abomasal or omasal) ulcers; (4) enlarged adrenal glands; (5) watery or frothy rumen contents; and (6) histological lesions. These lesions have primarily and most consistently been observed in the brain and spinal cord. (7) Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is very sensitive and specific to CWD and is typically used to confirm diagnoses by measuring accumulations of proteinase-resistant prion protein (PrP(res)) in brain tissues (specifically in the obex of the medulla oblongata) of infected deer and elk. This prion protein is indistinguishable from the scrapie-associated prion protein (PrP(Sc)) found in brain tissues of domestic sheep infected with scrapie, but other differences have been noted. (PrP(res)) has not been detected in uninfected cervids. This test can detect CWD infection before lesions are observable; however, IHC (+) results are not detected until at least three months after infection. Lesions do not always accompany (PrP(res)) accumulation and IHC (+) results. (8) Scrapie associated fibrils (SAFs) have been observed by electron microscopy in the brain tissue of infected cervids, but not in uninfected cervids. (9) Generally, blood (whole blood and serum) and urine profiles have remained within the normal range, with the exception that certain characteristics have reflected the emaciated condition of the infected animals. Low specific gravity of the urine, is the one urine characteristic that may be directly related to CWD, specifically to degenerative encephalopathic changes in the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is important in regulating anti diuretic hormone, which influences concentrations of urinary electrolytes (e.g., Na) and osmolality.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/appendix_b/
APPENDIX C: Importation of Susceptible Cervids
On March 20, 2002, the Texas Animal Health Commission, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission issued separate orders to prohibit the entry of all elk, white-tailed deer, black-tailed deer, and mule deer into Texas.
On August 25, 2002, Texas Animal Health Commission adopted entry requirements for black-tailed deer, elk, or other cervid species determined to be susceptible to CWD. All mule deer and white-tailed deer held under authority of Scientific Breeder Permits are also required to obtain a purchase permit and, in some cases, a transport permit from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in order to enter the state. All requests for entry must be made in writing and accompanied with the information necessary to support import qualification of the animal(s). Requests for entry and supporting documentation should be received by the TAHC at least 10 working days prior to the proposed entry date. The processing of the application can be expedited by assuring that all of the necessary documentation has been provided and that the necessary staff is available for review. The application must be accompanied by an owner's statement stating that to his/her knowledge the animals (or donor animals) to be imported have never come in contact with equipment or resided on a premise where CWD was ever diagnosed.
Entry Requirements: The applicant must identify the herd of origin and the herd of destination on both the permit application and the certificate of veterinary inspection. The susceptible cervid(s) to be imported into this state, shall be identified to their herd of origin by a minimum of two official/approved unique identifiers to include, but not limited to, legible tattoo, USDA approved ear tag, breed registration or other state approved permanent identification methods. If a microchip is used for identification, the owner shall provide the necessary reader. A certificate of veterinary inspection completed by an accredited veterinarian shall accompany the shipment. Additionally, the herd of origin must meet the following criteria:
1. In states where there is a state approved CWD monitoring program which meets the requirements provided in Section D of Appendix C (below) and where CWD has not been identified in a susceptible species, then all elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer, and black-tailed deer to be imported must originate from a herd that has been in a state-approved complete herd certification program for a minimum of three years (or current federal standards).
2. From states which do not have a CWD monitoring program which meets the standards provided in Section D of Appendix C (below) and where CWD has not been identified in a susceptible species, then all elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer, and black-tailed deer shall originate from herds that have complete herd records, including, but not limited to, complete and detailed herd inventories, records of deaths, laboratory results, and sales and purchase receipts, for a minimum of five years. Complete documents which support this type of status shall be submitted with the permit application.
3. In states where CWD has been identified in a susceptible species, then elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer, and black-tailed deer (or other susceptible species) to be imported must originate from a herd that has been in a state-approved complete herd monitoring program, as provided in Section D of Appendix C (below) for a minimum of five years.
4. A state-approved chronic wasting disease monitoring program must be certified by the Texas State Veterinarian as meeting the following minimum standards:
1. In states where CWD has been found in free-ranging wildlife, the state program shall have perimeter fencing requirements adequate to prevent ingress, egress or contact with susceptible cervids.
2. Surveillance based on testing of susceptible cervid deaths over 16 months of age is required of all herds within a complete herd monitoring program. Surveillance sampling at commercial slaughter and at shooter operations should be at least 10 percent of the number slaughtered annually.
3. A good quality sampling program where state and federal officials have the authority to adjust herd status if poor quality samples, particularly samples that are from the wrong portion of the brain, are routinely submitted from a premise. Laboratory analysis of the brain stem by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved lab is recognized as the current standard for CWD diagnosis. Other laboratory analyses may be accepted as validated or accepted by USDA/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
4. Physical herd inventory with annual verification reconciling animals and identification with records by an accredited veterinarian or state or federal personnel is required. Inventory is to include a cross check of all animal identifications with the herd inventory and specific information on the disposition of all animals not present.
5. Premise locations must be specifically identified by GIS or detailed description during the initial herd inventory.
6. Herd additions are allowed from herds with equal or greater time in an approved state CWD monitoring program with no negative impact on the certification status of the receiving herd. If herd additions are acquired from a herd with a later date of enrollment, the receiving herd reverts to the enrollment date of the sending herd. If a herd participating in the monitoring program acquires animals from a non-participating herd, the receiving herd must start over with new enrollment date based upon the date of acquisition of the animal(s). If a new herd begins with animals of a given status, that status will be retained by the new herd, based upon the lowest status of the animals received. Animals of different status which are commingled during marketing or transport will revert to the lowest status.
7. Elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer and black-tailed deer will only be allowed to enter the state of Texas if the state of origin lists CWD as a reportable disease and imposes an immediate quarantine on a herd and/or premise when a CWD positive animal is disclosed.
8. Animal health officials in the state of origin must have access to herd records for the appropriate number of years (three to five), including records of deaths and causes of death.
9. Section D also addresses entry requirements as they pertain to tuberculosis testing. However, these requirements are not included as a part of the Texas Chronic Wasting Disease Management Plan.
At the November 2002 meeting the TPWD Commission adopted regulations, to suspend the ban on importation of mule deer and white-tailed deer and provide for importation under TAHC requirements. Additionally, the TPW Commission adopted changes to Trap, Transportation, and Transplant rules, which will require a sample of deer to be tested for CWD on any property serving as a trap site for relocated deer. The rule sets forth the minimum sample size, requires the sample to be tested 100% negative by the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory and stipulates that all deer transported be uniquely marked with an ear tattoo prior to release.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/appendix_c/
APPENDIX D: Response Plan for CWD If Detected
1. If the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory reports a CWD positive test, the suspect sample will be immediately shipped to USDA Laboratory at Ames, Iowa for conformation of positive finding. The time between initial suspect finding and Ames Lab confirmation will be used to mobilize staff and groups for response plan initiation.
2. The confirmation notice of a positive would come through the USDA Veterinary Services Office in Austin, and USDA/VS personnel would be part of the response effort.
3. Governor's Office will be notified of the finding, as well as Commission members of both TAHC and TPWD.
4. CWD Media Response Plan will be activated (Appendix F).
5. Source location of CWD positive concerns:
1. The source location of the CWD positive animal and information about the area, landowners (to contact for cooperative discussions on further sampling, review of management plans), and the deer density within a 4-8 mile radius will be determined.
2. Should the source location of the CWD positive be in a Scientific Breeder facility or pen, TAHC will inform and work cooperatively with the landowner. TAHC may elect to monitor the herd with special conditions (i.e. double-fencing) or negotiate indemnification (cap established at $3000.00 for prime breeding animals) for eradication of the herd.
6. GIS locations and mapping for sampling will be utilized.
7. TAHC and TPWD will inform and work cooperatively with landowners and with landowner permission in the sample area that may be affected.
8. TAHC would determine sampling requirements. Sample numbers and the size of the area to be sampled will be determined based upon population numbers and the statistically-based numbers required for detecting CWD at a 2% prevalence level from "Regulatory Statistics Volume 1, Sixth Edition" (See Appendix D1). The numbers of animals to be sampled (projected at 150) would be collected throughout an area from 64-1056 square miles and not from a single property unless it is as large as the sample area around a positive. A square mile is 640 acres, in areas where the herd density is 1 deer per 5 acres an area of 64 square miles should contain 8192 deer (128 deer per section) and less than 3 deer per section will be sampled. In areas where the herd density is 1 deer per 200 acres an area of 1056 square miles should contain 3379 deer (3.2 deer section) a deer per 7 sections would be sampled. This sampling is not designed to reduce the population below viability.
9. Sampling will be conducted at no cost to the landowner in a cooperative manner to detect additional CWD positives, and sampling around any additional positive finds, to determine direction of spread, prevalence of the disease and to determine distribution. Additional samples would be taken surrounding any new positive to determine direction, but re-sampling again in an area previously sampled would not be necessary.
10. Simultaneously with the sampling, a joint investigation into movement of deer into or out of area will be conducted. 11. Identify geologic features or barriers, which may be used to limit population distribution, will be determined.
12. After distribution is determined, reasonable, responsible, and rational management strategies will be determined in association with landowners and applied as situations dictate following sampling activities, to include monitoring at appropriate intervals, herd reduction as a possible strategy, and eradication of local populations in limited appropriate circumstances. Strategies for possible treatments will also be discussed and reviewed with the TTT/MLDP Task Force/ White-tailed Deer Advisory Committee and the Private Lands Advisory Board.
13. TPWD will collect and take samples from cervids and transport sample to Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory for analysis.
14. Options for CWD testing (i.e. ELISA test) within localities should a CWD-positive be detected will be considered and evaluated. The purpose would be to ensure reliable test results in a timely manner within the local area providing little interruption to hunting and recreation in the area.
15. TPWD must be prepared to make budget and personnel adjustments for the sampling.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/appendix_d/
APPENDIX D1
United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Veterinary Services
REGULATORY STATISTICS
Volume 1
Sixth Edition June 1983 By Victor C. Beal, Jr. Table 2 - NUMBER NEEDED TO TEST TO BE 95% CONFIDENT THAT THE DISEASE WILL BE DETECTED IF PRESENT AT OR ABOVE FIVE LEVELS OF INCIDENCE OR CONTAMINATION
SEE FUZZY MATH BELOW ;
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/appendix_d1/
APPENDIX E: TAHC Rules for Monitoring CWD
Participating herds must have adequate perimeter fencing to prevent ingress and egress of cervids. Collection and submission of appropriate samples from all cases of mortality in animals over 16 months of age will accomplish surveillance in participating herds. Exemptions are provided for animals consigned to commercial slaughter operations with state or federal meat inspection. An annual inventory in participating herds shall be verified by a TAHC, USDA or accredited veterinarian. All animals over one year of age shall be identified with an official ear tag or other approved identification device. All animals less than one year of age shall be officially identified on a change of ownership.
Herd status designation shall be assigned on the basis of the number of years of participation provided that CWD is not confirmed in the herd:
1. Level A - One full year of participation. 2. Level B - Two to three years of participation. 3. Level C - Four to five years of participation. 4. Level D - Six years or more of participation.
Additions to Complete Monitored Herd:
1. Additions may originate from herds of equal or higher status with no change in the status of the receiving herd. 2. Additions may originate from herds of lower status with the receiving herd acquiring the lower status of the herd(s) involved.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/management_plan/appendix_e/
APPENDIX F: Media Response Plan
A deer tissue sample tests positive for CWD in Texas, then the TPWD and TAHC officials have only a few hours to manage communication before news reaches the public section.
Prior to Trigger Event, these items are complete and ready to go:
* Step-by-Step Media Response Plan * Shell of news release announcing CWD find-Draft pending response plan protocols being developed between TPWD and TAHC. * Identify news media spokespersons with TPWD and TAHC in Austin o TAHC: (512) 719-0700. Media Contact: Carla Everett. Spokespersons: Dr. Ken Waldrup, Dr. Max Coates, Dr. Linda Logan, Dr. Dan Baca, and Dr. Terry Conger. o TPWD: (512) 389-8900. Media Contact: Steve Lightfoot. Spokespersons: Robert L. Cook, Ron George, Clayton Wolf, and Doug Humphreys * Web site for news media and general public on CWD. Listings on site include: * FAQ/Q&A sheet with basic facts on CWD o http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/chronic_wasting_disease/ * Names/contact info for local/regional experts who can speak about CWD in various regions of Texas. * Streaming video of CWD educational video on Web for general public. * Downloadable radio PSAs. * High-resolution photos and video of animals with CWD.
Actions Needed:
* Gain a clear understanding of Texas operational plan for handling CWD outbreak, including likely sequence of events from initial find to confirmation, and approve policies concerning quarantines, stoppage of intrastate animal movement, and designation of infection zone for monitoring, sampling protocols and possible depopulation plan. * Effective communication planning hinges on our through understanding of state's plan for dealing with a CWD outbreak. * Obtain concurrence with media response plan from TAHC and TPWD. * Make final these above-listed information instruments.
Trigger Event
Notification that a suspected case of CWD exists in Texas.
Notify media contacts at TAHC and TPWD.
* TAHC - Carla Everett, (512) 719-0700 or (800) 550-8242. ceverett@tahc.state.tx.us * TPWD - Steve Lightfoot, (512) 389-4701 or (512) 565-3680. steve.lightfoot@tpwd.state.tx.us
Actions Needed:
* TAHC and TPWD confirm contacts and alternates, e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers and office and home phone numbers provided to Carla Everett and/or Steve Lightfoot for compilation, coordination and distribution to agency leadership and involved personnel from other entities. * News release distributed to media, agency(s) personnel and commissioners, affected stakeholder groups and constituents. * News conference called, depending on level of media response.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2001 - 2002
TEXAS OLD STATISTICS BELOW FOR PAST CWD TESTING;
Subject: CWD testing in Texas
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2002 19:45:14 –0500
From: Kenneth Waldrup
To: flounder@wt.net
CC: mcoats@tahc.state.tx.us
Dear Dr. Singletary,
In Fiscal Year 2001, seven deer from Texas were tested by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) for CWD (5 fallow deer and 2 white-tailed deer). In Fiscal Year 2002, seven elk from Texas were tested at NVSL (no deer). During these two years, an additional six elk and one white-tailed deer were tested at the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL). In Fiscal Year 2002, four white-tailed deer (free-ranging clinical suspects) and at least eight other white-tailed deer have been tested at TVMDL. One elk has been tested at NVSL. All of these animals have been found negative for CWD. Dr. Jerry Cooke of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department also has records of 601 clinically ill white-tailed deer which were necropsied at Texas A&M during the late 1960's and early 1970's, and no spongiform encepalopathies were noted.
Thank you for your consideration.
Ken Waldrup, DVM, PhD Texas Animal Health Commission
========================
TEXAS CWD STATUS
Captive Cervids
There have been no reported CWD infections of captive elk or deer in Texas. There is currently no mandatory surveillance program for susceptible cervids kept on game farms, although, there has been voluntary surveillance since 1999, which requires owners of participating herds to maintain an annual herd inventory and submit samples for all mortalities of animals over 16 months of age.
snip...
SO, i thought i would just see where these Ecoregions were, and just how the CWD testing was distributed. YOU would think that with the cluster of CWD bordering TEXAS at the WPMR in NM, you would have thought this would be where the major CWD testing samples were to have been taken? wrong! let's have a look at the sample testing. here is map of CWD in NM WPMR bordering TEXAS;
NEW MEXICO 7 POSITIVE CWD WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE MAP
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/documents/cwdmap.pdf
NEXT, let's have a look at the overall distribution of CWD in Free-Ranging Cervids and see where the CWD cluster in NM WSMR borders TEXAS;
Current Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease in Free-Ranging Cervids
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahps/cwd/cwd-distribution.html
NOW, the MAP of the Exoregion where the samples were taken to test for CWD;
CWD SURVEILLANCE SAMPLE SUBMISSIONS TEXAS
http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/animal_health/diseases/cwd/CWD2003.gif
Ecoregions of TEXAS
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/images/tx-eco95.gif
IF you look at the area around the NM WSMR where the CWD cluster was and where it borders TEXAS, that ecoregion is called Trans Pecos region. Seems if my Geography and my Ciphering is correct ;-) that region only tested 55% of it's goal. THE most important area on the MAP and they only test some 96 samples, this in an area that has found some 7 positive animals? NOW if we look at the only other border where these deer from NM could cross the border into TEXAS, this area is called the High Plains ecoregion, and again, we find that the sampling for CWD was pathetic. HERE we find that only 9% of it's goal of CWD sampling was met, only 16 samples were tested from some 175 that were suppose to be sampled.
AS i said before;
> SADLY, they have not tested enough from the total population to
> know if CWD is in Texas or not.
BUT now, I will go one step further and state categorically that they are not trying to find it. just the opposite it seems, they are waiting for CWD to find them, as with BSE/TSE in cattle, and it will eventually...
TSS
2012
Colorado
Captive CWD discovered 1967
Free ranging CWD discovered 1981
PLEASE STUDY THIS MAP !
SEE CWD MAP, RELATE TO DATES OF GAME FARM INFECTION, TO DATE OF INFECTION RATE IN WILD, SURROUNDING SAID INFECTED GAME FARMS. ...TSS
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/3/11-0685-f1.htm
*** Chronic Wasting Disease CWD CDC REPORT MARCH 2012 ***
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Occurrence, Transmission, and Zoonotic Potential of Chronic Wasting Disease
CDC Volume 18, Number 3—March 2012
SNIP...
Long-term effects of CWD on cervid populations and ecosystems remain unclear as the disease continues to spread and prevalence increases. In captive herds, CWD might persist at high levels and lead to complete herd destruction in the absence of human culling. Epidemiologic modeling suggests the disease could have severe effects on free-ranging deer populations, depending on hunting policies and environmental persistence (8,9). CWD has been associated with large decreases in free-ranging mule deer populations in an area of high CWD prevalence (Boulder, Colorado, USA) (5).
SNIP...
Reasons for Caution There are several reasons for caution with respect to zoonotic and interspecies CWD transmission. First, there is strong evidence that distinct CWD strains exist (36). Prion strains are distinguished by varied incubation periods, clinical symptoms, PrPSc conformations, and CNS PrPSc depositions (3,32). Strains have been identified in other natural prion diseases, including scrapie, BSE, and CJD (3). Intraspecies and interspecies transmission of prions from CWD-positive deer and elk isolates resulted in identification of >2 strains of CWD in rodent models (36), indicating that CWD strains likely exist in cervids. However, nothing is currently known about natural distribution and prevalence of CWD strains. Currently, host range and pathogenicity vary with prion strain (28,37). Therefore, zoonotic potential of CWD may also vary with CWD strain. In addition, diversity in host (cervid) and target (e.g., human) genotypes further complicates definitive findings of zoonotic and interspecies transmission potentials of CWD. Intraspecies and interspecies passage of the CWD agent may also increase the risk for zoonotic CWD transmission. The CWD prion agent is undergoing serial passage naturally as the disease continues to emerge. In vitro and in vivo intraspecies transmission of the CWD agent yields PrPSc with an increased capacity to convert human PrPc to PrPSc (30).
Interspecies prion transmission can alter CWD host range (38) and yield multiple novel prion strains (3,28). The potential for interspecies CWD transmission (by cohabitating mammals) will only increase as the disease spreads and CWD prions continue to be shed into the environment. This environmental passage itself may alter CWD prions or exert selective pressures on CWD strain mixtures by interactions with soil, which are known to vary with prion strain (25), or exposure to environmental or gut degradation. Given that prion disease in humans can be difficult to diagnose and the asymptomatic incubation period can last decades, continued research, epidemiologic surveillance, and caution in handling risky material remain prudent as CWD continues to spread and the opportunity for interspecies transmission increases. Otherwise, similar to what occurred in the United Kingdom after detection of variant CJD and its subsequent link to BSE, years of prevention could be lost if zoonotic transmission of CWD is subsequently identified,
SNIP...SEE FULL TEXT ;
*** Chronic Wasting Disease CWD CDC REPORT MARCH 2012 ***
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Occurrence, Transmission, and Zoonotic Potential of Chronic Wasting Disease
CDC Volume 18, Number 3—March 2012
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/3/11-0685_article.htm
see much more here ;
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2012/02/occurrence-transmission-and-zoonotic.html
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Chronic Wasting Disease CWD cervids interspecies transmission
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2012/01/chronic-wasting-disease-cwd-cervids.html
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The Risk of Prion Zoonoses
Science 27 January 2012: Vol. 335 no. 6067 pp. 411-413 DOI: 10.1126/science.1218167
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2012/01/risk-of-prion-zoonoses.html
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Facilitated Cross-Species Transmission of Prions in Extraneural Tissue
Science 27 January 2012: Vol. 335 no. 6067 pp. 472-475 DOI: 10.1126/science.1215659
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2012/01/facilitated-cross-species-transmission.html
CJD9/10022
October 1994
Mr R.N. Elmhirst Chairman British Deer Farmers Association Holly Lodge Spencers Lane BerksWell Coventry CV7 7BZ
Dear Mr Elmhirst,
CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE (CJD) SURVEILLANCE UNIT REPORT
Thank you for your recent letter concerning the publication of the third annual report from the CJD Surveillance Unit. I am sorry that you are dissatisfied with the way in which this report was published.
The Surveillance Unit is a completely independant outside body and the Department of Health is committed to publishing their reports as soon as they become available. In the circumstances it is not the practice to circulate the report for comment since the findings of the report would not be amended. In future we can ensure that the British Deer Farmers Association receives a copy of the report in advance of publication.
The Chief Medical Officer has undertaken to keep the public fully informed of the results of any research in respect of CJD. This report was entirely the work of the unit and was produced completely independantly of the the Department.
The statistical results reqarding the consumption of venison was put into perspective in the body of the report and was not mentioned at all in the press release. Media attention regarding this report was low key but gave a realistic presentation of the statistical findings of the Unit. This approach to publication was successful in that consumption of venison was highlighted only once by the media ie. in the News at one television proqramme.
I believe that a further statement about the report, or indeed statistical links between CJD and consumption of venison, would increase, and quite possibly give damaging credence, to the whole issue. From the low key media reports of which I am aware it seems unlikely that venison consumption will suffer adversely, if at all.
http://web.archive.org/web/20030511010117/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1994/10/00003001.pdf
THIRD CJD REPORT UK 1994
snip...
Consumption of venison and veal was much less widespread among both cases and controls. For both of these meats, there was evidence of a trend with increasing frequency of consumption being associated with increasing risk of CJD. These associations were largely unchanged when attention was restricted to pairs with data obtained from relatives. ...
http://www.cjd.ed.ac.uk/Archive%20reports/report3.pdf
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Enhanced Surveillance Strategies for Detecting and Monitoring Chronic Wasting Disease in Free-Ranging Cervids Open-File Report 2012–1036 National Wildlife Health Center
Open-File Report 2012–1036
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2012/03/enhanced-surveillance-strategies-for.html
a few things to consider please. one, CWD has already been transmitted to many cattle in the lab (86% in one study). the oral route would have a much longer incubation period, but we already know that CWD will transmit back to cervids via the oral route, very efficiently. the threat of spreading CWD via close contact, like at feeding grounds is great. every bit of science to date shows this. so to congregate deer together by unnatural means is not smart in my opinion. another fear has come to pass as well, another strain of CWD, yes a second strain. and just recently science has shown that a natural case of BSE has been transmitted to a GOAT. These findings demonstrate that when CWD is directly inoculated into the brain of cattle, 86% of inoculated cattle develop clinical signs of the disease.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=194089
2012
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD WISCONSIN Almond Deer (Buckhorn Flats) Farm Update DECEMBER 2011
> > > The CWD infection rate was nearly 80%, the highest ever in a North American captive herd.
Despite the five year premise plan and site decontamination, The WI DNR has concerns over the bioavailability of infectious prions at this site to wild white-tail deer should these fences be removed. Current research indicates that prions can persist in soil for a minimum of 3 years.
However, Georgsson et al. (2006) concluded that prions that produced scrapie disease in sheep remained bioavailable and infectious for at least 16 years in natural Icelandic environments, most likely in contaminated soil.
Additionally, the authors reported that from 1978-2004, scrapie recurred on 33 sheep farms, of which 9 recurrences occurred 14-21 years after initial culling and subsequent restocking efforts; these findings further emphasize the effect of environmental contamination on sustaining TSE infectivity and that long-term persistence of prions in soils may be substantially greater than previously thought. < < <
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/nrboard/2011/december/12-11-2b2.pdf
SNIP...SEE FULL TEXT ;
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2011/12/chronic-wasting-disease-cwd-wisconsin.html
Thursday, February 09, 2012
50 GAME FARMS IN USA INFECTED WITH CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2012/02/50-game-farms-to-date-in-usa-infected.html
and when these game farms claim they are testing, and everything is o.k., think again...
Saturday, February 04, 2012
Wisconsin 16 age limit on testing dead deer Game Farm CWD Testing Protocol Needs To Be Revised
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2012/02/wisconsin-16-age-limit-on-testing-dead.html
National Wildlife Health Center
Open-File Report 2012–1036
U.S.
Enhanced Surveillance Strategies for Detecting and Monitoring Chronic Wasting Disease in Free-Ranging Cervids
snip...
In addition to locations of known CWD-positive individuals, other spatial risk factors related to CWD exposure should be considered. For example, the risk of free-ranging animals being exposed to CWD is likely greater in areas where captive cervid facilities have or had CWD-positive animals. Current evidence indicates that CWD infection rates are much higher in captive facilities than in wild populations (Keane and others, 2008), and perhaps this is driven by environmental contamination (Miller and others, 2006). This higher rate of infection in captive animals can increase the risk of disease exposure to surrounding wild populations. Furthermore, movement of infectious animals, carcasses, or other materials across the landscape, naturally or with human assistance, likely increases the risk to uninfected populations. The frequent movement of farmed elk (Cervus elaphus) and deer between production facilities, the concentration of infected animals on some facilities, and the possibility of their escape into the wild increases the risk of spreading CWD to uninfected populations of free-ranging animals. Because the infectious prions may persist in the environment for long periods, the introduction of either captive or free-ranging uninfected animals into a contaminated environment could increase their risk of infection. For example, locations from which sheep have been removed may remain contaminated with scrapie agent for more than 15 years (Georgsson and others, 2006).
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Enhanced Surveillance Strategies for Detecting and Monitoring Chronic Wasting Disease in Free-Ranging Cervids Open-File Report 2012–1036 National Wildlife Health Center
Open-File Report 2012–1036
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2012/03/enhanced-surveillance-strategies-for.html
UPDATED CORRESPONDENCE FROM AUTHORS OF THIS STUDY I.E. COLBY, PRUSINER ET AL, ABOUT MY CONCERNS OF THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THEIR FIGURES AND MY FIGURES OF THE STUDIES ON CWD TRANSMISSION TO CATTLE ;
----- Original Message -----
From: David Colby
To: flounder9@verizon.net
Cc: stanley@XXXXXXXX
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2011 8:25 AM
Subject: Re: FW: re-Prions David W. Colby1,* and Stanley B. Prusiner1,2 + Author Affiliations
Dear Terry Singeltary,
Thank you for your correspondence regarding the review article Stanley Prusiner and I recently wrote for Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives. Dr. Prusiner asked that I reply to your message due to his busy schedule. We agree that the transmission of CWD prions to beef livestock would be a troubling development and assessing that risk is important. In our article, we cite a peer-reviewed publication reporting confirmed cases of laboratory transmission based on stringent criteria. The less stringent criteria for transmission described in the abstract you refer to lead to the discrepancy between your numbers and ours and thus the interpretation of the transmission rate. We stand by our assessment of the literature--namely that the transmission rate of CWD to bovines appears relatively low, but we recognize that even a low transmission rate could have important implications for public health and we thank you for bringing attention to this matter.
Warm Regards, David Colby
--
David Colby, PhDAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Chemical EngineeringUniversity of Delaware
====================END...TSS==============
SNIP...SEE FULL TEXT ;
http://betaamyloidcjd.blogspot.com/2011/01/enlarging-spectrum-of-prion-like.html
UPDATED DATA ON 2ND CWD STRAIN
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
CWD PRION CONGRESS SEPTEMBER 8-11 2010
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2010/09/cwd-prion-2010.html
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Wisconsin Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, CWD, TSE, PRION REPORTING 2011
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/11/wisconsin-creutzfeldt-jakob-disease-cwd.html
Sunday, November 13, 2011
COLORADO CWD CJD TSE PRION REPORTING 2011
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/11/colorado-cwd-cjd-tse-prion-reporting.html
PLUS, THE CDC DID NOT PUT THIS WARNING OUT FOR THE WELL BEING OF THE DEER AND ELK ;
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Travel History, Hunting, and Venison Consumption Related to Prion Disease Exposure, 2006-2007 FoodNet Population Survey
Journal of the American Dietetic Association Volume 111, Issue 6 , Pages 858-863, June 2011.
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/05/travel-history-hunting-and-venison.html
NOR IS THE FDA recalling this CWD positive elk meat for the well being of the dead elk ;
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Noah's Ark Holding, LLC, Dawson, MN RECALL Elk products contain meat derived from an elk confirmed to have CWD NV, CA, TX, CO, NY, UT, FL, OK RECALLS AND FIELD CORRECTIONS: FOODS CLASS II
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/03/noahs-ark-holding-llc-dawson-mn-recall.html
now, let’s see what the authors said about this casual link, personal communications years ago. see where it is stated NO STRONG evidence. so, does this mean there IS casual evidence ????
“Our conclusion stating that we found no strong evidence of CWD transmission to humans”
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
Thursday, April 03, 2008
A prion disease of cervids: Chronic wasting disease
2008 1: Vet Res. 2008 Apr 3;39(4):41
A prion disease of cervids: Chronic wasting disease
Sigurdson CJ.
snip...
*** twenty-seven CJD patients who regularly consumed venison were reported to the Surveillance Center***,
snip...
full text ;
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2008/04/prion-disease-of-cervids-chronic.html
Monday, November 14, 2011
WYOMING Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, CWD, TSE, PRION REPORTING 2011
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/11/wyoming-creutzfeldt-jakob-disease-cwd.html
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Wisconsin Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, CWD, TSE, PRION REPORTING 2011
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/11/wisconsin-creutzfeldt-jakob-disease-cwd.html
Sunday, November 13, 2011
COLORADO CWD CJD TSE PRION REPORTING 2011
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/11/colorado-cwd-cjd-tse-prion-reporting.html
Sunday, February 12, 2012
National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center Cases Examined1 (August 19, 2011) including Texas
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2012/02/national-prion-disease-pathology.html
CWD waltzing across Texas from New Mexico
Monday, March 26, 2012
3 CASES OF CWD FOUND NEW MEXICO MULE DEER SEVERAL MILES FROM TEXAS BORDER
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2012/03/3-cases-of-cwd-found-new-mexico-mule.html
OLDER CWD REPORTS FROM NEW MEXICO
Chronic Wasting Disease Rules
Currently Apply to Unit 19 and Control Area of Unit 34 It is unlawful to transport dead deer or elk or their parts, taken from any Game Management Unit or other area designated by the Director in which the presence of or possibility of, exposure to chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been identified to any location outside that Game Management Unit except for the following parts of deer or elk: • Meat that is cut and wrapped either privately or commercially. • Quarters or other portions of meat with no part of the head or spinal column attached. • Meat that has been boned out. • Hides with no heads attached. • Clean skull plates with antlers attached. • Antlers with no meat or tissue attached. • Upper canine teeth, also known as “ivories.” • Finished heads mounted by a taxidermist. You may not remove the whole head and spinal column. You must keep proof of sex with all game species until you get the game to the place where it will be consumed or placed in cold storage.
For Control Area Map of Unit 34, go to:
www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/disease/cwd/documents/CWDcontrolarea2006.pdf/.
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/publications/documents/rib/2011/2011-2012_Big_Game_RIB_Optimized2.pdf
Wildlife Health Section
Chronic Wasting Disease
During the 2008-2009 hunting season, two deer harvested on McGregor Range were found to have Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). Tissue samples from the deer were obtained at a hunter check station. A single deer with CWD was harvested from private land south of Timberon. The deer was found through the voluntary hunter harvest surveillance. A single, free-ranging wild elk from the Rio Penasco area of Unit 34 showed symptoms consistent with CWD during spring of 2009. This elk was collected and CWD subsequently was confirmed.
Since CWD was detected in 2002, 26 deer and 3 elk have been confirmed with the disease. The Department will test for CWD when hunters bring freshly harvested deer or elk heads to any Department office or to any conservation officer. Testing is free to hunters, and hunters are notified when test results are positive.
CWD seems to be established in the area of White Sands Missile Range, the adjacent Organ Mountains and in the Sacramento Mountains surrounding the village of Timberon. Tests from all other areas of New Mexico continue to be negative.
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/publications/documents/annual_report/AnnualReport08-09_optimized.pdf
TSS
Labels: Texas Prepares for Chronic Wasting Disease CWD Possibility in Far West Texas
posted by Terry S. Singeltary Sr. at
9:36 PM
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