HUNTERS FEELING THE HEAT Houston Chronicle December 13, 2012 OUTDOORS not talking about CWD in Texas
HUNTERS FEELING THE HEAT
Houston Chronicle
December 13, 2012
OUTDOORS
A break in the unusually warm, dry weather could bolster late deer-season
prospects
by Shannon Tompkins
Texas deer hunters welcomed the for-real cold front that swept across the
state earlier this week bringing with it two crucial items that have been in
short supply this deer season: cold temperatures and rain. ...
full page article print @
HUNTERS FEELING THE HEAT Houston Chronicle December 13, 2012 OUTDOORS
Greetings Texas Hunters, Friends, and Neighbors, Houston Chronicle et al,
Once again, our prolific sports writer for the Houston Chronicle, Shannon
Tompkins, writes another wonderful FULL PAGE piece on Texas hunting and Texas
deer, without so much as whispering a hint of what’s going on about Chronic
Wasting Disease CWD in the cervid population in Texas. so I guess I have to do
it for them. for years and years, Shannon was writing about CWD from state to
state, writing how Texas had escaped this deadly pathogen, until that fateful
day in 2012 in Texas, when NEW MEXICO FORCED or FINALLY HUMILIATED TAHD into CWD
testing, where I told them to start testing a decade (10 years ago). nope,
Shannon has become silent on this topic, since his one short article about it.
so, who is paying Shannon, the Chronicle, or the captive shooting pen deer farms
and or 98% of the private hunting land owners in Texas, with big game private
hunting trips, or what, as to NOT to write about CWD? CWD waltzing across the
border from New Mexico for a decade and nobody is talking much about it. captive
shooting pens in Texas rampant, CWD in captive shooting pens all over the U.S.
are going down with CWD, and in Texas ??? age restrictions on testing for CWD?
we know CWD can develop in 4 to 5 month old cervids. only testing in captive
shooting pens when a dead deer is found? that is if you don’t use the SSS policy
the USDA is so fond of using covering up mad cow disease BSE in the USA.
_voluntary_ CWD surveillance, testing, and monitoring ??? how did that work out
for us with the infamous August 4, 1997 partial and voluntary mad cow feed ban?
I will tell you, one decade (10 YEARS) post partial and voluntary mad cow feed
ban, 2007, in one week of fda recall alone, 10 MILLION POUNDS OF BANNED BLOOD
LACED MEAT AND BONE MEAL WENT OUT INTO COMMERCE TO BE FED OUT. 2006 was a banner
year as well. since 2007, these type documents on this type violations are not
available anymore to the public, with the new reporting system put in. in my
opinion, the Chronicle and Mr. Tompkins are doing a disservice to it’s readers
and hunters in the state of Texas. very sad and disturbing, as to how Shannon
can write for years and years how bad CWD is, until it is documented in Texas,
and then see how silent Shannon became on CWD.
very disturbing to me. ...my
opinion, thank you. ...terry
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
Chronic Wasting Disease CWD, Texas, Houston Chronicle Shannon Tomkins 1998
- 2012 what happened ???
SNIP...
Tompkins: There are a lot of reasons to be concerned about CWD
SHANNON TOMPKINS, Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Published 5:30 a.m.,
Thursday, March 14, 2002
Today, most Texas deer hunters probably yawn at the mention of Chronic
Wasting Disease. After all, the number of wild deer documented as killed,
nationwide, by the unusual malady probably is less than annually are crushed by
tractor-trailer rigs scorching Interstate 10 between Kerrville and Fort
Stockton.
And, so far, no cases of the fatal, incurable, communicable,
brain-destroying cervid disease have been documented in Texas.
What's so bad about a little-understood disease responsible for the death
of scattered pockets of deer in a handful of Rocky Mountain states?
If Texas' deer herd survived screwworms and can thrive despite endemic
bluetongue and anthrax and even the constant gnawing away of habitat, then why
worry about a little Chronic Wasting Disease?
There is abundant reason to be concerned.
CWD carries potential for incredible impacts on Texas' 4 million deer, its
half-million deer hunters, the hunting-based economy of rural areas and private
landowners and even the future of the state agency responsible for overseeing
those deer and all other natural resources.
Just how seriously many Texas wildlife managers and those with economic or
other interest in deer take the CWD threat was manifestly evident over the past
week.
In the wake of news that Wisconsin officials had discovered CWD in three of
26 wild deer taken by hunters in a small area of that state, Katharine Armstrong
Idsal, presiding officer of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, called an
emergency meeting of the TPW Commission to address the issue of deer importation
into Texas.
A proposal to suspend all imports of deer into Texas was, and is, on the
TPW Commission's agenda for its scheduled April 4 meeting, with the
recommendation having been triggered by discovery over the past few months of
CWD in wild deer in Nebraska and South Dakota.
The emergency TPW Commission meeting was arranged Friday, the day the Texas
Wildlife Association, a politically active, landowner-based organization, sent
to the governor, members of the Legislature and the TPW Commission a resolution
calling for sealing the state's borders to deer imports because of the chance
some might be carrying CWD.
At the TPW Commission's hastily called Monday meeting, the group approved
and adopted an emergency rule prohibiting importation of white-tailed and mule
deer into Texas.
That emergency rule, which is effective for 45 days, took effect Tuesday.
It is the first time the TPW Commission has used its emergency rule-making
authority.
Justifications for the emergency action were laid out in the preamble to
the regulation change. CWD, the document states, "constitutes a direct threat to
wild deer populations in Texas and therefore to the multi-billion dollar hunting
industry, as well as a potential threat to human health, safety and
welfare."
To understand the threat to deer and, perhaps, public health and the
subsequent potentially devastating impact on Texas' deer-based economy, it's
necessary to understand CWD.
CWD is one of a group of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE)
diseases that destroy brain cells. Triggering the destruction is a prion, an
abnormal form of protein. The prion mutates normal cellular protein into the
abnormal form.
This "eats away" at the brain and damages an infected animal's ability to
maintain normal functions such as converting food and body fat to energy.
Animals suffering from CWD begin wasting away as their body tries to
convert protein to energy, a very inefficient process.
Eventually, the animal loses motor control and even goes blind, giving rise
to the pitiful "blind staggers" seen in livestock suffering from CWD's close
relative, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, better known as "Mad Cow
Disease."
Death is inevitable and horrible.
Scientists know relatively little about CWD.
"We don't really know what triggers it. Does the prion create the disease
or does the disease create the prion?" said Jerry Cooke, game mammal branch
chief of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's wildlife division. "What we
do know is that it is transmissible to other cervids."
First documented in the 1960s in penned herds in Colorado, CWD "jumped"
into the wild cervid population there, being confirmed in wild deer and elk in
the 1980s.
A common suspicion is that CWD is a mutated form of "scrapie," a TSE long
confined to sheep.
There is some evidence that the cervids in the Colorado pen where CWD was
first documented were fed protein feeds containing sheep parts and that those
parts could have contained brain material infected with scrapie.
One of the scrapie-triggering prions might have mutated just enough to
break the molecular barrier of a deer's brain cell, and the disease was off and
running.
Scientists are convinced CWD is spread by close contact between uninfected
and infected animals. That can happen between animals in a pen or behind a
fence, or by nose-to-nose contact between deer or elk inside the fence and those
outside the enclosure.
From Colorado, CWD spread throughout the northwest corner of the state into
wild herds in Wyoming and Nebraska.
Its spread was accelerated over the past decade by a burgeoning market in
deer and elk triggered by elk farming and deer ranching.
Thousands of deer and elk are bought and transported each year, most to
penned facilities where they are either raised for food or, in the case of
white-tailed deer, used in an effort to produce bucks with large antlers to feed
a market in trophy hunting.
To test for CWD, brain tissue is needed. And such tissue samples can be
obtained only if the animal is dead.
Plus, getting rid of the disease has proved difficult, if not impossible,
even in penned facilities.
In at least one case, a penned facility holding CWD-infected deer was
"depopulated" (the animals slaughtered and destroyed) and the site left with no
animals for three years.
When uninfected deer were placed in the pens, they contracted CWD.
As deer and elk from areas with CWD have been traded and transported across
the nation, they have brought the disease with them
Currently, CWD-infected, free-ranging deer have been confirmed in Colorado,
Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota and Wisconsin, plus the Canadian province of
Saskatchewan.
CWD has been found in captive herds in Saskatchewan, Colorado, South
Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Montana.
Texas has been a big player in the deer trade over the past decade, as
hundreds of deer-breeding facilities have sprung up in the state to feed the
interest in building bucks with bigger antlers.
Today, more than 450 individuals in Texas hold a TPWD-issued "scientific
breeder permit" allowing them to manipulate deer. Some of these breeders and
other landowners over the past four years have imported 2,107 deer from outside
Texas.
Because deer can be traded so often -- a deer may be sold as a fawn in
Nebraska to a broker in Missouri who sells it to a breeder in Pennsylvania who
sells it to a landowner in Texas -- it often is nearly impossible to determine
the provenance of individual animals.
Whether any of the thousands of deer imported into Texas over the past
decade carried CWD remains an unsettling question.
Texas has no CWD-testing program for wild deer and only a voluntary program
for elk and other animals under the jurisdiction of the Texas Animal Health
Commission.
"Ten years ago, elk and deer (imported into Texas) were not regulated at
all," said Dr. Ken Waldrup, an epidemiologist with the Texas Animal Health
Commission and one of the agency's point men on CWD. "If Texas doesn't already
have CWD, then I say that proves that God is a Texan.
"For everyone's sake, I sure hope He is."
CWD has not been proved to be transmissible to any animal other than deer
and elk.
But that was the original thought with BSE, which did "jump" into humans
who ate BSE-infected meat in Europe and contracted Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
(CJD), the human form of TSE. CJD, like CWD and BSE, is fatal, incurable and
untreatable. It is blamed for at least 80 deaths in Europe.
While there is no proof CWD can jump to humans, there is no absolute proof
it can't if given enough opportunities.
And that issue scares wildlife managers.
If CWD shows up in a deer herd and the deer-hunting public gets spooked
about the possibility -- no matter how tiny -- that by cleaning or eating a deer
they will contract CJD and face a certain and horrible death, they could, en
masse, abandon deer hunting.
This could destroy the $2 billion-plus deer hunting economy in Texas.
Also, if deer hunters abandon their recreation, natural resource agencies
such as TPWD, which depend almost entirely on hunting license fees to fund their
diverse wildlife programs, would be maimed, perhaps mortally.
"It's not the immediate impact on the deer herds that (is) the most
frightening thing about CWD," Waldrup said. "It's the secondary impacts that are
really scary.
"People better just pray it doesn't show up here. If it does, things could
get very ugly."
Shannon Tompkins covers the outdoors for the Chronicle. His column appears
Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.
now, don’t get me wrong Mr. Tompkins, you have written some great articles
on the wild and on the fisheries, and on CWD in the past. see ;
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Commentary: Crimes hurt essence of hunting
Commentary on Houston Chronicle article [below] by Dr. Thomas Pringle
From: tom@cyber-dyne.com
Date: Fri, 10 May 2002 11:03:29 –0800
Subject: nice cwd reporting Shannon,
My compliments on these superb CWD Houston Chronical articles: not mincing
words, they display an excellent -- and most rare -- journalistic understanding
of the origin and continuing spread of CWD. (A couple of technical points were
not quite on target, see bottom.)
It is really refreshing to see in print the probable origin as sheep
scrapie-to-penned cervids in 1967 at Foothills Research Station, after decades
of relentless PR out of Colorado DOW seeking to distance itself from
responsibility (and liability). Facility workers at Colorado Dept of Wildlife
commented on the similarity to scrapie already in 1967 but never autopsied any
of their many dead research animals until 1979, discovering immediately an
obvious spongiform encephalopathy.
By that time of course, release to the wild and transfer of surplus animals
to zoos, game farms, and sister facilities had seeded widespread dissemination
of the disease. This was subsequently aggravated by the explosive growth in game
farms and intra- and inter-state cervid shipping, which at industry insistence
was in essence unregulated (eg regulated by state ag dept boosters). It is not
just the shoot-deer-in-a-barrel industry --elk velvet nutriceutical was never
tested by anyone for abnormal prions despite its troublesome composition (the
market collapsed from live CWD exported to Korea).
DOW itself did nothing to change its practises or control the disease until
very recently. Only last year, in the face of published evidence [below] that
the disease is expected to transfer to humans at the same low efficency as BSE
(129 human deaths to date), did they back off from encouraging human consumption
of venison from the endemic area. Nebraska fish and game even offered a
deer-neck stew recipe on its web site, even though spinal cord was long known to
have high infectious titres.
State fish and game depts are basically unfenced game farms. They have a
commercial concession that allows them earn a salary from sale of antler tags.
This motivates them to set up winter feeding stations, watering holes, salt
blocks, control predators, fight CWD testing, anything and everything that
increases numbers and leads to more or continued sales. Unfortunately, practises
leading to high cervid concentrations and testing avoidance are highly conducive
to the spread of CWD.
States such as Montana require testing of every game farm cervid dead for
any reason and an accounting of each animal's provenance and disposition; other
states adopt a "don't look, don't find" policy of testing avoidance with no
monitoring whatsoever of facilities. Absence of evidence is not evidence of
absence when it comes to TSEs. This disease just does not go away on its own, be
it kuru in New Guinea or scrapie in the US.
Given the numbers of Texas game farms, massive importation statistics, and
the high likelihood of trace-backs to affected facilities, it would be most
surprising if CWD were not already entrenched in Texas along the lines of
Wisconsin. It really questionable if stonewalling really is in the industry's
best interest -- who is going to hunt in a state that fears to test? The longer
infectious foci are allowed to operate, the greater the probability of multiple
introductions into wild deer. To ban imports (only after everyone has finished
importing all they want) just locks the barn door after the horse is long gone.
Half-measures on prion diseases are worse than no measures because they put
off the day of reckoning while exacerbating it immensely. Wisconsin's hasty
policy of culling 15,000 wild deer, yet business as usual (no testing, no
trace-backs, no inspection, no recordkeeping, no culls) at its sacrosanct 535
game farms. will result in CWD in perpetuity. The focus is on temporary
abatement for purposes of hunter reassurance. Dr. Charles Southwick
southwic@stripe.colorado.edu is a good source of scientific information on cwd
control strategies.
A few technical notes. First, the word mutation is reserved for genetic
change affecting DNA. It is not applicable to mere protein conformational
changes and fibril formation seen in amyloid diseases such as Alzheimer and CWD.
Mutation has been ruled out in CWD amplification. The prion gene of hundreds of
CWD and non-CWD animals have been sequenced by Dr. O'Rourke at Pullman. There is
no counterpart to the mutations that cause 15% of human CJD, much to the
disappointment of DOW.
No TSE has ever been seen in natural populations of any wild animal
anywhere in the world, making Colorado's story of a natural pocket (by
coincidence located adjacent to Foothills and Sybille research stations) a bit
far-fetched. Now by golly another natural pocket has flared up next to a game
farm in Wisconsin. How about the supposed natural pocket adjacent to the
massively infected game farm in the Black Hills -- despite its import history,
the industry PR firm in Ketchum turned this around 180 degrees -- now it's the
wild animals infecting innocent game farms!?! There has invariably been a nexus
to intensive livestock operations, be that cows fed rendered cows, mink farms
fed downer cows or deer quartered in a scrapie research facility.
Second, the "best available scientific evidence" upon which public policy
is normally based (more studies are needed, they always are, but something must
be used for the interim) is that published by Byron Caughey's group at Rocky Mtn
labs (after two years of delay by co-author Mike Miller of DOW who controlled
sample access). A proxy test was used since human volunteers cannot be
considered. Transmission efficiencies to human were similar to BSE -- low, but
hardly reassuring given England's experience.
Third, CWD has already been experimentally transferred to 6-7 species
including rodents, primates, and bovids, as published in peer-reviewed
scientific journals. The first round of transmission can be inefficient in TSEs;
after that, no species barrier. It is really the human-to-human second round
(plasma donation, childhood vaccines, cornea transplants) that has cause the
greatest consternation in England. A Ft. Collins hunter/blood donor with
preclinical cwd-induced CJD would have no idea he is ill.
It is currently impossible to test humans for cwd-induced CJD because there
is no known signature. Rises in baseline CJD cannot be monitored, contrary to
CDC, because of very large numbers of missed diagnoses, swings in ascertainment
effort, and diagnostic changes.
Best wishes and keep up the good work! Tom
Dr. Thomas Pringle Sperling Biomedical Foundation 3295 Kincaid St. Eugene,
OR 97405
CWD archives
Wisconsin latest to be hit by deer brain disease
May 10, 2002
The Houston Chronicle by Shannon Tompkins
Wisconsin drew the black bean in the continent's expanding war with chronic
wasting disease, and that simple twist of fate promises to be expensive and
painful for the state's deer and human populations. It also serves as a sobering
study for Texas in what can happen when the poorly understood but invariably
fatal brain disease shows up in a state's wild deer herd.
Just three months after CWD was documented in a handful of white-tailed
deer taken by hunters in southwestern Wisconsin, the state is preparing to kill
thousands of deer; Gov. Scott McCallum is calling for a special session of the
state Legislature to address the issue; politicians are asking for millions of
dollars to fight CWD spread; and the hunting-based economies of the region are
preparing to take a stunning blow.
Add to that the uncertainty many of Wisconsin's 700,000 deer hunters are
expressing about the safety of eating venison, and you have the future of that
state's deer and deer hunting hanging in the balance. CWD is a recently
discovered transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that affects deer and elk. It
is similar to the TSE that causes "mad cow disease" in livestock, and which in
Europe "jumped" from infected livestock to humans as a variation of the TSE
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.
The disease manifests itself via prions, or mutant proteins, which cause
deterioration of brain cells. The effects include loss of weight and muscle
control, blindness and dementia. There is no treatment and the disease is fatal.
CWD has been proved transmissible between deer and elk, but it has not been
shown to be transmittable to humans. But neither has it been proved
non-transmittable. The possibility, however minuscule, exists that a human could
contract the fatal disease.
Since it was discovered in 1967 in wild deer in the northeast corner of
Colorado, CWD has been a mystery. How it came to exist remains a question, but
the most accepted theory is that it is a mutation of a TSE called "scrapie"
found in sheep. A Colorado research facility that housed sheep, deer and elk in
close contact is assumed to have been the genesis of CWD.
The disease for most of the past three decades seems to have remained
localized in a small area of Colorado.
Interstate trade in "farmed" live elk and deer, some of which were infected
with CWD, is assumed to have begun the diseases' spread to other states.
CWD has been identified in a half-dozen states and a couple of Canadian
provinces, almost always associated with penned elk or deer.
The discovery of CWD in three wild deer in Wisconsin during a routine
sampling of hunter-taken animals stunned most wildlife scientists and managers.
The disease never had been documented east of the Mississippi River, and
never in an area where deer densities are as high as they are in Wisconsin.
The closest CWD cases were more than 900 miles from Wisconsin.
The discovery triggered a rush of states closing their borders to
importation of deer and elk.
Texas, which has for years been one of the major players in live deer and
elk traffic, shut its borders to all importation of deer and elk within a couple
of weeks of the Wisconsin discovery.
Wisconsin officials began addressing the issue by killing and testing 516
deer in the area that produced CWD-infected animals. (There is no certified
live-animal test for CWD; animals must be killed and brain or brain stem tissue
analyzed to document infection.)
When 11 of those 516 deer proved infected with CWD, the state's Department
of Natural Resources and politicians knew they had a severe problem.
In an effort to prevent the spread of CWD, Wisconsin wildlife officials are
proposing to kill every deer in a 287-square-mile (about 184,000 acres) area
where the infected deer have been found.
That will involve killing 14,000-15,000 deer, officials estimate.
Just how that will be accomplished remains a question. But the slaughter
almost certainly will begin next month.
CWD has become a white-hot political issue in the state, where fingers are
being pointed at agriculture officials who disregarded warnings about the
possibility of CWD-infected deer being brought into the state.
McCallum said this week he will call a special session of the state's
Legislature to address CWD-related issues such as regulation of feeding wild
deer, a practice that crowds deer together and is suspected of making it easier
for CWD to spread.
The Wisconsin Legislature has approved spending $ 4.4 million this year to
fight CWD. Officials say they need at least $ 22.5 million over the next three
years to contain CWD.
McCallum is asking the federal government for $ 18.5 million.
At least Wisconsin knows it has a CWD problem, and is addressing it. Other
states, including Texas, probably have CWD-infected deer within their borders.
But because they do no testing for the disease, they have no evidence of
its presence.
Other states are beginning to fashion CWD testing programs, though.
Iowa, which abuts the southwest corner of Wisconsin where the CWD-infected
deer have been found, this week announced it will begin collecting brain tissue
samples from road-killed deer and submitting them for CWD testing.
Iowa officials said they hope to collect 100-200 road-killed deer for
sampling each month.
Texas has no CWD testing program.
But the Texas Deer Association, a trade group representing many of the
state's 400-plus state-permitted deer and elk ranches, this past month promised
to put together a voluntary CWD monitoring program in cooperation with the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas Animal Health Commission.
If the voluntary program is not accepted by TPWD and TAHC, the agencies
could issue regulations for mandatory CWD testing.
The issue will be discussed at May 29-30 TPW Commission meetings in Austin.
============end============
Mr. Thomkins, and Houston Chronicle, I think your disregard for concern
NOW, at least the same concern now, than you had back when the CWD TSE prion
disease was not on the other foot, I think your silence is deafening now about
Chronic Wasting Disease CWD, and very disturbing, and is doing an injustice to
your readers.
I wasted 10 years or so, trying to get them to test, where New Mexico
forced them to test, i.e. White Sands Missle range side of Texas, and there
about. course, I did the same with mad cow disease too. to no avail. $$$
IT would be nice for you and the chronicle, to at least give the same
concern for CWD as you did in the past when CWD was in other states, but not
TEXAS. you can see here what one deer and one captive shooting pen can cost a
state ;
THE states are going to have to regulate how many farms that are allowed,
or every state in the USA will wind up being just one big private fenced in game
farm. kind of like they did with the shrimping industry in the bays, when there
got to be too many shrimp boats, you stop issuing permits, and then lower the
exist number of permits, by not renewing them, due to reduced permits issued.
how many states have $465,000., and can quarantine and purchase there from,
each cwd said infected farm, but how many states can afford this for all the cwd
infected cervid game ranch type farms ???
11,000 game farms X $465,000., do all these game farms have insurance to
pay for this risk of infected the wild cervid herds, in each state ???
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.
RECOMMENDATION: That the Board approve the purchase of 80 acres of land for
$465,000 for the Statewide Wildlife Habitat Program in Portage County and
approve the restrictions on public use of the site.
Form 1100-001 (R 2/11) NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD AGENDA ITEM
SUBJECT: Information Item: Almond Deer Farm Update
FOR: DECEMBER 2011 BOARD MEETING TUESDAY TO BE PRESENTED BY TITLE: Tami
Ryan, Wildlife Health Section Chief
SUMMARY:
Monday, January 16, 2012
9 GAME FARMS IN WISCONSIN TEST POSITIVE FOR CWD
see full text and more here ;
Thursday, February 09, 2012
50 GAME FARMS IN USA INFECTED WITH CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE
Volume 18, Number 3—March 2012
Samuel E. Saunders1, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, and Jason C. Bartz
Author affiliations: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
(S.E. Saunders, S.L. Bartelt-Hunt); Creighton University, Omaha (J.C. Bartz)
Synopsis
Occurrence, Transmission, and Zoonotic Potential of Chronic Wasting Disease
Originally recognized only in southeastern Wyoming and northeastern
Colorado, USA, CWD was reported in Canada in 1996 and Wisconsin in 2001 and
continues to be identified in new geographic locations (Figure 1, panel A).
CWD has been identified in free-ranging cervids in 15 US states and 2
Canadian provinces and in ≈100 captive herds in 15 states and provinces and in
South Korea (Figure 1, panel B). Except in South Korea, CWD has not been
detected outside North America. In most locations reporting CWD cases in
free-ranging animals, the disease continues to emerge in wider geographic areas,
and prevalence appears to be increasing in many disease-endemic areas.
Areas of Wyoming now have an apparent CWD prevalence of near 50% in mule
deer, and prevalence in areas of Colorado and Wisconsin is <15 deer.="deer." div="div" in="in">
However, prevalence in many areas remains between 0% and 5% according to
reports and data obtained from state and provincial wildlife agencies.
Prevalence in elk is lower than in deer but reaches 10% in parts of
Wyoming.
Known risk factors for CWD include sex and age, and adult male deer show
the highest prevalence (5).
Polymorphisms in the PrP (PRNP) gene appear to influence susceptibility in
deer and elk (2,6,7), but remain less understood than the strong genetic
influences for scrapie.
snip...
Most epidemiologic studies and experimental work have suggested that the
potential for CWD transmission to humans is low, and such transmission has not
been documented through ongoing surveillance (2,3). In vitro prion replication
assays report a relatively low efficiency of CWD PrPSc-directed conversion of
human PrPc to PrPSc (30), and transgenic mice overexpressing human PrPc are
resistant to CWD infection (31); these findings indicate low zoonotic potential.
However, squirrel monkeys are susceptible to CWD by intracerebral and oral
inoculation (32). Cynomolgus macaques, which are evolutionarily closer to humans
than squirrel monkeys, are resistant to CWD infection (32). Regardless, the
finding that a primate is orally susceptible to CWD is of concern...
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...
Thursday, July 12, 2012
CWD aka MAD DEER, ELK DISEASE TEXAS HOUSTON CHRONICLE Wednesday, July 11,
2012
Subject: TEXAS MANDATORY CWD CHECK STATION LOCATIONS Nov. 23 – Dec. 10; 9
a.m. to 9 p.m.
MANDATORY CWD CHECK STATION LOCATIONS
(Nov. 23 – Dec. 10; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.)
Monday, November 19, 2012
HUNTING: New protocols for mule deer hunting Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department due to CWD
Friday, October 12, 2012
Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) is Now Accepting Comments on Rule
Proposals for “Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)”
TO: comments@tahc.state.tx.us;
Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC)
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
TAHC Chronic Wasting Disease Rule What you need to know
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
TPWD Gearing Up for CWD Response during Deer Season
Monday, September 17, 2012
New Mexico DGF EXPANDS CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CONTROL AREAS, while Texas
flounders
Friday, September 07, 2012
Texas Wildlife Officials Considering New Deer Movement Rules in Response to
CWD
Thursday, July 12, 2012
CWD aka MAD DEER, ELK DISEASE TEXAS HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Wednesday, July 11, 2012 Brain-eating disease found in Texas deer
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Chronic Wasting Disease Detected in Far West Texas
Saturday, July 07, 2012
TEXAS Animal Health Commission Accepting Comments on Chronic Wasting
Disease Rule Proposal
Considering the seemingly high CWD prevalence rate in the Sacramento and
Hueco Mountains of New Mexico, CWD may be well established in the population and
in the environment in Texas at this time.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
TAHC Modifies Entry Requirements Effective Immediately for Cervids DUE TO
CWD
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, June 09, 2012
USDA Establishes a Herd Certification Program for Chronic Wasting Disease
in the United States
Friday, September 07, 2012
Texas Wildlife Officials Considering New Deer Movement Rules in Response to
CWD
Friday, June 01, 2012
TEXAS DEER CZAR TO WISCONSIN ASK TO EXPLAIN COMMENTS
Tuesday, May 01, 2012 Texas deer breeder gets fine, probation illegally
importing live whitetail deer three times in 2007 http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2012/05/texas-deer-breeder-gets-fine-probation.html
Monday, March 26, 2012
Texas Prepares for Chronic Wasting Disease CWD Possibility in Far West
Texas
Monday, March 26, 2012
3 CASES OF CWD FOUND NEW MEXICO MULE DEER SEVERAL MILS FROM TEXAS BORDER
Sunday, October 04, 2009
CWD NEW MEXICO SPREADING SOUTH TO TEXAS 2009
Subject: CWD NEW MEXICO RECORDS IT'S 19 CASE (near Texas border again)
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr." flounder9@VERIZON.NET
Reply-To: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy BSE-L@LISTS.AEGEE.ORG
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 21:13:08 -0500 Content-Type: text/plain
Parts/Attachments: text/plain (146 lines) Reply
Subject: CWD NEW MEXICO RECORDS IT'S 19 CASE (near Texas border again)
Date: August 29, 2007 at 6:39 pm PST
ANOTHER DEER TESTS POSITIVE FOR CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE
LAS CRUCES ? New Mexico recorded its 19th case of chronic wasting disease
in deer in a sick animal found in the Bishop's Cap area of the Organ Mountains
.
Officer Richard McDonald investigated a report of an emaciated deer July
12. The animal was unaware of human presence, chronically thirsty, urinating
often, and staying in and near a water source. Officer McDonald followed the
state's protocol for disease surveillance by killing the animal and sending it
to the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Albuquerque for testing.
Based on the symptoms and the area from which the deer came, the laboratory
was instructed that chronic wasting disease (CWD) was highly probable.
Laboratory diagnostic testing confirmed presence of CWD in this deer. This is
the 19th deer with confirmed CWD found since it was first detected in New Mexico
in 2002. Two elk have also been found with CWD.
This deer was in Game Management Unit 19, where special CWD restrictions
already exist for hunters.
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) 476-8127.
----- 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 ???
----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr." flounder9@VERIZON.NET
To: BSE-L@aegee.org
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 ;
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.
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
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...
CWD SURVEILLANCE TEXAS
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.
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.
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).
----- Original Message -----
From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
To: thurmanf@tahc.state.tx.us
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
see map where CWD has been documented at Texas border in free ranging deer
and elk
kind regards,
Terry
Subject: CWD 3 NEW CASES SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO Date: July 10, 2006 at 8:51 am
PST
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Media contact: Dan Williams, (505)
476-8004 Public contact: (505) 476-8000 dan.williams@state.nm.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, JULY 7, 2006:
3 SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO DEER TEST POSITIVE FOR CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE
SANTA FE – Three deer in southern New Mexico have tested positive for
chronic wasting disease, bringing the total number of confirmed CWD-infected
deer in the state to 15 since the first infected deer was discovered in
2002.
The Department received test results Wednesday from the state Veterinary
Diagnostic Services laboratory in Albuquerque that two wild deer captured near
the White Sands Missile Range headquarters east of Las Cruces had tested
positive for chronic wasting disease. A third wild deer captured in the small
community of Timberon in the southern Sacramento Mountains also tested positive
for the disease.
The discoveries of the infected deer were part of the Department's ongoing
efforts to monitor the disease, which to date has been confined to the southern
Sacramento Mountains southeast of Cloudcroft and areas surrounding the Organ
Mountains near Las Cruces. Two wild elk from the southern Sacramento Mountains
tested positive for the disease in December 2005.
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological illness that afflicts deer,
elk and moose. There is no evidence of CWD being transmitted to humans or
livestock. The disease causes animals to become emaciated, display abnormal
behavior and lose control of bodily functions. To date, it has been found in
captive and wild deer, elk and moose in eight states and two Canadian
provinces.
For more information about CWD in New Mexico and how hunters can assist in
research and prevention, please visit the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Web site, www.wildlife.state.nm.us . More information about CWD also can be
found on the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance site at www.cwd-info.org/ .
###
SEE MAP NM
SEE SAMPLING MAP TEXAS
CWD Sampling Maps
Three Year Summary of Hunter-Kill CWD Sampling (as of August 31, 2005)
CWD Sampling Maps Three Year Summary of Hunter-Kill CWD Sampling (as of
August 31, 2005) USDA CWD Maps March 2006 — Current Distribution of CWD TAHC CWD
Monitoring Program Information CWD Sample Submission and Costs 2006 Factsheet
For Producers Enrolling in the Complete Herd Monitoring Program USDA CWD Maps
March 2006 — Current Distribution of CWD TAHC CWD Monitoring Program Information
CWD Sample Submission and Costs 2006 Factsheet For Producers Enrolling in the
Complete Herd Monitoring Program
----- 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
www.wildlife.state.nm.us.
SEE MAP ;
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.
snip... end...tss
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.
Free-Ranging (Wild) Cervids
There have been no reported CWD infections of free-ranging susceptible
cervids in Texas. Currently targeted surveillance of free-ranging cervids having
clinical symptoms is ongoing in Texas with no positives identified.
Additionally, sampling of hunter-killed animals was initiated statewide during
the 2002-2003 deer hunting season and sampling will be continued for the next
three to five years.
Historic Status
Some have speculated that CWD is "spontaneous" and may exist naturally at
low levels, even in Texas. The Texas Wildlife Disease Project, a cooperative
research project between TPWD and Texas A&M University (circa 1965-1975),
was created to address two disease issues; a) low reproduction in Texas
pronghorn and b) "circling disease" in white-tailed deer. One of the leading
veterinary pathologists on this project was already suspicious that the etiology
of "circling disease" was scrapie being transmitted from sheep to deer. During
the project's existence, a total of 780 clinically affected animals (601
white-tailed deer, 7 mule deer, 2 elk, and 170 exotic deer and antelope) were
collected. Tissues, including brain and lymph nodes, from the collected animals
were examined for spongiform histological lesions, and all were found to be
negative. Had CWD (a form of TSE, like scrapie) existed in Texas during this
time frame, it is probable that these investigations would have detected these
classic histological lesions, especially in clinically affected animals. It must
be noted, however, that the current laboratory tests used to diagnose CWD were
not available during the time the Wildlife Disease Project so it can not be
stated with absolute certainty that CWD was not present.
PLAN FOR MANAGEMENT OF THE DISEASE IN TEXAS
Diseases such as CWD tend to be managed more effectively when efforts are
applied before or as the disease emerges, rather than after it becomes
established. CWD is an emerging disease. The current number of known infections
within private elk and deer breeding facilities varies markedly among states
(and Canada) and is increasing steadily with continued and expanding
surveillance and investigations. The geographic spread of CWD in free-ranging
mule deer, white-tailed deer and elk is a concern. The recent discovery of CWD
in free-ranging white-tailed deer in Wisconsin and Illinois, approximately 700
miles east of any previously known infection, 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).
TAHC and TPWD have split jurisdictions and regulatory responsibilities,
which creates challenges for both agencies (i.e., TAHC responsible for elk, TPWD
responsible for white-tailed deer and mule deer). Both agencies will cooperate
to resolve issues as they arise.
COMPONENTS OF THE PLAN
1. Education and information sharing with public, constituents, and other
government agency personnel concerning CWD. 2. Ongoing targeted surveillance of
clinical deer statewide (i.e., collecting and CWD- testing deer/elk exhibiting
symptoms that may be consistent with CWD). 3. Development and implementation of
a geographically-focused Monitoring Plan involving the sampling and CWD-testing
of hunter-harvested deer. 4. TAHC Rules for Importation of Susceptible Cervids
(Appendix C ). 5. Response Plan for CWD should it occur in Texas(Appendix D ).
6. TAHC rules for monitoring for CWD in breeding facilities (Appendix E ). 7.
Media Response plan development in the possible event of a positive CWD
occurrence (Appendix F ). 8. Advance education of relevant professionals such as
resource agency personnel, private wildlife consultants, veterinarians,
landowners, wildlife co-ops, taxidermists, and others
snip...see full text ;
Thursday, November 29, 2012
TEXAS CWD UPDATE AND MANDATORY CWD CHECK STATION LOCATIONS Nov. 23 – Dec.
10; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Saturday, February 04, 2012
Wisconsin 16 age limit on testing dead deer Game Farm CWD Testing Protocol
Needs To Be Revised
Monday, June 11, 2012
OHIO Captive deer escapees and non-reporting
CWD UPDATE DECEMBER 2012
Thursday, December 06, 2012
Pennsylvania CWD Not Found in Pink 23 PA captive escapee, but where is
Purple 4 and the other escapees ?
News for Immediate Release
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Senator Casey Urges USDA To Take Smart Steps to Implement New Measure That
Could Help Combat Chronic Wasting Disease Among Deer
From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2012 11:50 AM
To: Press_office@casey.senate.gov Cc: ckauffman@yorkdispatch.com ; Terry S.
Singeltary Sr.
Subject: Casey Urges USDA To Take Smart Steps to Implement New Measure That
Could Help Combat Chronic Wasting Disease Among Deer
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
PENNSYLVANIA 2012 THE GREAT ESCAPE OF CWD INVESTIGATION MOVES INTO
LOUISIANA
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
PENNSYLVANIA 2012 THE GREAT ESCAPE OF CWD
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
PENNSYLVANIA Second Adams County Deer Tests Positive for Chronic Wasting
Disease
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
PA Department of Agriculture investigating possible 2nd case of chronic
wasting disease
Thursday, November 01, 2012
PA GAME COMMISSION TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS CWD Release #128-12
Friday, October 26, 2012
***CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD PENNSYLVANIA GAME FARMS, URINE ATTRACTANT
PRODUCTS, BAITING, AND MINERAL LICKS
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
PA Captive deer from CWD-positive farm roaming free
Wednesday, October 17, 2012, 11:33 PM
Pennsylvania CWD number of deer exposed and farms there from much greater
than first thought
Monday, October 15, 2012
PENNSYLVANIA GAME COMMISSION AND AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT TO HOLD PUBLIC
MEETING TO DISCUSS CWD MONITORING EFFORTS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 15,
2012
Release #124-12
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Pennsylvania Confirms First Case CWD Adams County Captive Deer Tests
Positive
Friday, October 26, 2012
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD PENNSYLVANIA GAME FARMS, URINE ATTRACTANT
PRODUCTS, BAITING, AND MINERAL LICKS
Sunday, December 09, 2012
Pennsylvania Sportsmen upset with agriculture’s lack of transparency on CWD
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
PENNSYLVANIA PURPLE 4 ESCAPED CAPTIVE FOUND FREE OF CWD, what about the
deer in Louisiana ?
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Chronic wasting disease on the Canadian prairies
Monday, December 03, 2012
WISCONSIN Deer from Racine County has tested positive for CWD
Friday, November 16, 2012
Yellowstone elk herds feeding grounds, or future killing grounds from CWD
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Wyoming Elk Hunt Area 10 Added to CWD List
Friday, July 20, 2012
CWD found for first time in Iowa at hunting preserve
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
Additional Facility in Pottawatamie County Iowa Under Quarantine for CWD
after 5 deer test positive
Friday, September 21, 2012
Chronic Wasting Disease CWD raises concerns about deer farms in Iowa
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
IOWA DNR to increase number of deer tissue samples as part of Surveillance
for Chronic Wasting Disease
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
North Carolina commission sets up task force on deer farming
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
ILLINOIS CWD UPDATE NOVEMBER 2012
Thursday, November 01, 2012
ALABAMA BIG BUCK PROJECT, A CWD TSE PRION ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN
Friday, December 07, 2012
ALABAMA BIG BUCK PROJECT Conservation Commissioner N. Gunter Guy Jr. signs
emergency order Prohibiting practice effective December 7, 2012
Monday, October 08, 2012
VDGIF has discovered four positive cases of CWD in Virginia Updated
9/24/2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
Stray elk renews concerns about deer farm security Minnesota
Friday, October 21, 2011
Chronic Wasting Disease Found in Captive Deer Missouri
Thursday, July 19, 2012
KANSAS NINE DEER TEST POSITIVE FOR CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
NEBRASKA CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD SPREADING SLOWLY 2011 REPORT GAME FARM
RANCH UPDATE
Saturday, March 10, 2012
CWD, GAME FARMS, urine, feces, soil, lichens, and banned mad cow protein
feed CUSTOM MADE for deer and elk
Monday, November 26, 2012
Aerosol Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease in White-tailed Deer
Monday, November 26, 2012
Rapid Transepithelial Transport of Prions following Inhalation
Friday, November 09, 2012
*** Chronic Wasting Disease CWD in cervidae and transmission to other
species
Saturday, October 6, 2012
**** TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE
SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES 2011 Annual Report
Friday, August 24, 2012
Diagnostic accuracy of rectal mucosa biopsy testing for chronic wasting
disease within white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) herds in North America
Friday, August 31, 2012
COMMITTEE ON CAPTIVE WILDLIFE AND ALTERNATIVE LIVESTOCK and CWD 2009-2012 a
review
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Captive Deer Breeding Legislation Overwhelmingly Defeated During 2012
Legislative Session
Thursday, May 31, 2012
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD PRION2012 Aerosol, Inhalation transmission,
Scrapie, cats, species barrier, burial, and more
Subject: DOCKET-- 03D-0186 -- FDA Issues Draft Guidance on Use of Material
From Deer and Elk in Animal Feed; Availability
Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 11:47:37 –0500
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
LANCET INFECTIOUS DISEASE JOURNAL
Volume 3, Number 8 01 August 2003
Newsdesk
Tracking spongiform encephalopathies in North America
Xavier Bosch
My name is Terry S Singeltary Sr, and I live in Bacliff, Texas. I lost my
mom to hvCJD (Heidenhain variant CJD) and have been searching for answers ever
since. What I have found is that we have not been told the truth. CWD in deer
and elk is a small portion of a much bigger problem.
49-year-old Singeltary is one of a number of people who have remained
largely unsatisfied after being told that a close relative died from a rapidly
progressive dementia compatible with spontaneous Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
(CJD). So he decided to gather hundreds of documents on transmissible spongiform
encephalopathies (TSE) and realised that if Britons could get variant CJD from
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), Americans might get a similar disorder
from chronic wasting disease (CWD)the relative of mad cow disease seen among
deer and elk in the USA. Although his feverish search did not lead him to the
smoking gun linking CWD to a similar disease in North American people, it did
uncover a largely disappointing situation.
Singeltary was greatly demoralised at the few attempts to monitor the
occurrence of CJD and CWD in the USA. Only a few states have made CJD
reportable. Human and animal TSEs should be reportable nationwide and
internationally, he complained in a letter to the Journal of the American
Medical Association (JAMA 2003; 285: 733). I hope that the CDC does not continue
to expect us to still believe that the 85% plus of all CJD cases which are
sporadic are all spontaneous, without route or source.
Until recently, CWD was thought to be confined to the wild in a small
region in Colorado. But since early 2002, it has been reported in other areas,
including Wisconsin, South Dakota, and the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
Indeed, the occurrence of CWD in states that were not endemic previously
increased concern about a widespread outbreak and possible transmission to
people and cattle.
To date, experimental studies have proven that the CWD agent can be
transmitted to cattle by intracerebral inoculation and that it can cross the
mucous membranes of the digestive tract to initiate infection in lymphoid tissue
before invasion of the central nervous system. Yet the plausibility of CWD
spreading to people has remained elusive.
Getting data on TSEs in the USA from the government is like pulling teeth,
Singeltary argues. You get it when they want you to have it, and only what they
want you to have.
SNIP...FULL TEXT ;
Sunday, December 2, 2012
CANADA 19 cases of mad cow disease SCENARIO 4: ‘WE HAD OUR CHANCE AND WE
BLEW IT’
Friday, November 23, 2012
sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease update As at 5th November 2012 UK, USA,
AND CANADA
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Transmission of New Bovine Prion to Mice, Atypical Scrapie, BSE, and
Sporadic CJD, November-December 2012 update
Saturday, October 6, 2012
TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM
ENCEPHALOPATHIES 2011 Annual Report
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
O.I.E. BSE, CWD, SCRAPIE, TSE PRION DISEASE Final Report of the 80th
General Session, 20 - 25 May 2012
RIP MOM DECEMBER 14, 1997 CONFIRMED HEIDENHAIN VARIANT CREUTZFELDT JAKOB
DISEASE
layperson
Terry S. Singeltary Sr. P.O. Box 42 Bacliff, Texas USA 77518
posted by Terry S. Singeltary Sr. at
12:05 PM
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