No New Positives Found in 2013-14 Trans Pecos CWD Surveillance
News
Release
Media Contact: Steve Lightfoot, 512-389-4701, steve.lightfoot@tpwd.texas.gov
Media Contact: Steve Lightfoot, 512-389-4701, steve.lightfoot@tpwd.texas.gov
March 28,
2014
No New Positives Found in 2013-14 Trans Pecos CWD Surveillance
AUSTIN – Nearly 300 tissue samples were collected from hunter harvested deer and elk from the Trans Pecos ecoregion during the 2013-14 season to test for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). Over the last two hunting seasons upwards of 600 deer and elk have been tested for CWD, thanks to the cooperation of hunters and landowners who have participated in the state’s hunter check stations.
“Undoubtedly without the hunter check stations, and hunter and landowner participation, we would know very little about the prevalence of the disease or where it exists,” said Mitch Lockwood, Big Game Program Director with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
To date, 617 deer and elk have been tested through the CWD check stations and strategic sampling that occurred during the summer of 2012; 215 were in the Containment Zone, 172 were in the adjacent High Risk Zone, 57 were in the Buffer Zone, and 173 were outside of the CWD zones. Forty five of the samples tested from the Containment Zone were from deer harvested in the Hueco Mountains.
TPWD’s Current CWD Management Zones
“Additional sampling is necessary to develop more confidence in the geographic extent and prevalence of the disease, but the fact that CWD has not been detected in Texas outside of the Hueco Mountains of northern El Paso and Hudspeth counties is encouraging,” said Lockwood.
Including the positives reported from last year’s sampling effort, and the three positives reported by New Mexico Game and Fish in 2012, CWD has been detected in 9 of 49 deer sampled in the Hueco Mountains.
CWD is a member of the group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Other diseases in this group include scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or mad cow disease) in cattle, and Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. CWD among cervids is a progressive, fatal disease that commonly results in altered behavior as a result of microscopic changes made to the brain of affected animals. An animal may carry the disease for years without outward indication, but in the latter stages, signs may include listlessness, lowering of the head, weight loss, repetitive walking in set patterns, and a lack of responsiveness. CWD is not known to affect humans or livestock.
There is no vaccine or cure for CWD, but steps have been taken to minimize the risk of the disease spreading from beyond the area where it currently exists. TPWD and Texas Animal Health commissions adopted rules to restrict movement of deer, elk, and other susceptible species within or from the CWD Zones as well increase surveillance efforts.
More information about CWD is available online at http://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/.
SL
2014-03-28
Greetings Texas Hunters et al,
this is great news, but the extremely small amount of sample
cwd testing taken to date in Texas, is really a joke. with as many game farms
that are in Texas, the amount of testing therefrom, and the testing in the wild
for cwd in Texas, considering I tried telling the TAHC around 2002 that cwd was
waltzing across Texas from the border of New Mexico, in the Trans Pacos region,
around the WSMR, over a decade ago, and to finally have New Mexico force Texas
to test in that area in 2012, and low and behold 4 cases of cwd were discovered
in Texas, right there, considering all this, all this tells us is that those
600+ cervids did not have detectible cwd, from what tests they were using. it
does not say much for the rest of the 3,600,000 deer in Texas. ...just
saying....kind regards, terry
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
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
NOW, the MAP of the Exoregion where the samples were taken to test for CWD;
CWD SURVEILLANCE SAMPLE SUBMISSIONS TEXAS
Ecoregions of TEXAS
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...
snip...see full text ;
SEE UPDATED REPORTS AND MORE HERE ;
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
Friday, June 01, 2012
*** TEXAS DEER CZAR TO WISCONSIN ASK TO EXPLAIN COMMENTS
Monday, February 11, 2013
TEXAS CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD Four New Positives Found in Trans Pecos
=======================
Thursday, October 03, 2013
TAHC ADOPTS CWD RULE THAT the amendments ***REMOVE*** the requirement for a
specific fence height for captives
Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) ANNOUNCEMENT October 3, 2013
=======================
***Game Farm, CWD Concerns Rise at Boone and Crockett Club***
Friday, March 28, 2014
Concerned about captive deer operations transmitting diseases to wild
herds, the Boone and Crockett Club now officially supports state bans on
commercial import and export of deer or elk.
The Club also opposes efforts to relax regulation of captive cervid
breeding operations or to remove management authority over such operations from
state wildlife agencies.
A full position statement, posted here, was passed at the Club’s December
meeting.
The Club’s concerns were reinforced at the recent Whitetail Summit hosted
by the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA), the first summit to focus on
key issues and challenges facing free-ranging white-tailed deer.
“Of all the presentations, seminars and findings, I was most pleased to see
the attention given to the connections between chronic wasting disease (CWD) and
the game farming industry. This has been on our radar, and on the radar of QDMA,
other conservation groups, state agencies and sportsmen for quite some time,”
said Richard Hale, chairman of the Club’s Records Committee.
Hale added, “Congratulations to QDMA on one of the most impressive and
well-run summits I’ve had the pleasure of attending and for keeping this issue
front and center.”
CWD is a degenerative brain disease that affects elk, mule deer,
white-tailed deer, and moose. The disease can be transmitted by direct
animal-to-animal contact through saliva, feces and urine, and indirectly through
environmental contamination. CWD is fatal in deer, elk and moose, but there is
no evidence that CWD can be transmitted to humans, according to the CDC and The
World Health Organization.
Documented cases of CWD have been found in captive and/or wild deer and elk
in 22 states and two Canadian provinces. In some, but not all, cases where the
disease has been found in wild populations, the disease is present in captive
populations within these regions.
In 2002, the Boone and Crockett Club, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the
Mule Deer Foundation formed the CWD Alliance. Its purpose was to pool resources,
share information and collaborate on ways to positively address the CWD issue.
Other organizations have since joined the Alliance, including QDMA and the
Wildlife Management Institute, which now administers the Alliance website
www.cwd-info.org.
“Evidence strongly suggests that captive animals infected with CWD can
serve as the source for the spread of the disease to other captive animals, and
between captive animals and wild populations,” said Hale. “To reduce the risk to
wild deer populations, several states passed laws prohibiting game farming or
live captive deer and elk importation, but now they are fighting efforts to
expand captive deer and elk breeding and shooting operations within their
jurisdictions. The captive cervid industry is persistent in proposing new
legislations to overturn these laws, or transfer the authority of captive deer
and elk from state fish and game agencies to their respective departments of
agriculture.”
No vaccine or treatment is available for animals infected with CWD and once
established in a population, culling or complete depopulation to eradicate CWD
has provided only marginal results. In fact, the prevalence of CWD is rising at
an alarming rate in some infected wild deer populations. Prevention is the only
truly effective technique for managing diseases in free-ranging wildlife
populations. Consequently, what can be done is minimizing the spread of CWD by
restricting intra- and interstate transportation captive, privately owned
wildlife, which frequently occurs in game farming.
boone and crockett club position statement
REGULATION OF GAME FARMS First Adopted December 7, 2013 - Updated December
7, 2013
Situational Overview
The captive cervid industry, also referred to as game farming, uses
artificial means to breed captive deer, elk, and other cervids for sale in
shooting preserve operations. These game farms commonly transport captive deer
and elk to other shooting preserves in a state or in other states.
Transportation of captive, game farm animals has been shown to increase the
risk of spreading parasites and infectious, diseases, such as chronic wasting
disease (CWD) and bovine tuberculosis, to other captive and wild cervids in new
locations. There is currently no way of testing live animals for CWD, and
infected animals show no signs for at least 16-18 months post-infection. There
is no vaccine, and despite fenced enclosures, captive animals often come in
contact with wild populations thereby spreading diseases. Once CWD is present,
the area cannot be decontaminated even if infected animals are removed. As a
result, many states have banned or are attempting to ban the importation of
captive cervids (as well as intact carcasses of hunter-killed, wild cervids) to
lower the risk of spreading CWD and other infectious diseases.
Position
The Boone and Crockett Club supports state bans on importing or exporting
captive deer and elk by game farming operations in order to protect the health
of native populations. The Club opposes any legislation aimed at relaxing
regulations governing captive cervid breeding operations or removing management
authority over such operations from state wildlife agencies. The Club does not
oppose the transportation of wild cervids by state agencies and non-governmental
organizations for the purpose of re-establishing wild game animals to their
historic, open ranges.
The breeding of captive deer, elk, and other cervids for profit to create
abnormally large “trophy” animals for fenced shoots under non-fair chase
conditions are addressed in the Boone and Crockett Club’s positions on “Genetic
Manipulation of Game” and “Canned Shoots.”
THE LANCET Infectious Diseases Vol 3 August 2003
Tracking spongiform encephalopathies in North America
http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laninf/PIIS1473309903007151.pdf?id=baa1CkXPkhI3Ih_Vlh6ru
Friday, December 14, 2012
DEFRA U.K. What is the risk of Chronic Wasting Disease CWD being introduced
into Great Britain? A Qualitative Risk Assessment October 2012
snip...
In the USA, under the Food and Drug Administration’s BSE Feed Regulation
(21 CFR 589.2000) most material (exceptions include milk, tallow, and gelatin)
from deer and elk is prohibited for use in feed for ruminant animals. With
regards to feed for non-ruminant animals, under FDA law, CWD positive deer may
not be used for any animal feed or feed ingredients. For elk and deer considered
at high risk for CWD, the FDA recommends that these animals do not enter the
animal feed system. However, this recommendation is guidance and not a
requirement by law.
Animals considered at high risk for CWD include:
1) animals from areas declared to be endemic for CWD and/or to be CWD
eradication zones and
2) deer and elk that at some time during the 60-month period prior to
slaughter were in a captive herd that contained a CWD-positive animal.
Therefore, in the USA, materials from cervids other than CWD positive
animals may be used in animal feed and feed ingredients for non-ruminants.
The amount of animal PAP that is of deer and/or elk origin imported from
the USA to GB can not be determined, however, as it is not specified in TRACES.
It may constitute a small percentage of the 8412 kilos of non-fish origin
processed animal proteins that were imported from US into GB in 2011.
Overall, therefore, it is considered there is a __greater than negligible
risk___ that (nonruminant) animal feed and pet food containing deer and/or elk
protein is imported into GB.
There is uncertainty associated with this estimate given the lack of data
on the amount of deer and/or elk protein possibly being imported in these
products.
snip...
36% in 2007 (Almberg et al., 2011). In such areas, population declines of
deer of up to 30 to 50% have been observed (Almberg et al., 2011). In areas of
Colorado, the prevalence can be as high as 30% (EFSA, 2011).
The clinical signs of CWD in affected adults are weight loss and
behavioural changes that can span weeks or months (Williams, 2005). In addition,
signs might include excessive salivation, behavioural alterations including a
fixed stare and changes in interaction with other animals in the herd, and an
altered stance (Williams, 2005). These signs are indistinguishable from cervids
experimentally infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
Given this, if CWD was to be introduced into countries with BSE such as GB,
for example, infected deer populations would need to be tested to differentiate
if they were infected with CWD or BSE to minimise the risk of BSE entering the
human food-chain via affected venison.
snip...
The rate of transmission of CWD has been reported to be as high as 30% and
can approach 100% among captive animals in endemic areas (Safar et al., 2008).
snip...
In summary, in endemic areas, there is a medium probability that the soil
and surrounding environment is contaminated with CWD prions and in a
bioavailable form. In rural areas where CWD has not been reported and deer are
present, there is a greater than negligible risk the soil is contaminated with
CWD prion.
snip...
In summary, given the volume of tourists, hunters and servicemen moving
between GB and North America, the probability of at least one person travelling
to/from a CWD affected area and, in doing so, contaminating their clothing,
footwear and/or equipment prior to arriving in GB is greater than negligible.
For deer hunters, specifically, the risk is likely to be greater given the
increased contact with deer and their environment. However, there is significant
uncertainty associated with these estimates.
snip...
Therefore, it is considered that farmed and park deer may have a higher
probability of exposure to CWD transferred to the environment than wild deer
given the restricted habitat range and higher frequency of contact with tourists
and returning GB residents.
snip...
Singeltary submission ;
Program Standards: Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program and
Interstate Movement of Farmed or Captive Deer, Elk, and Moose
*** DOCUMENT ID: APHIS-2006-0118-0411
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Game Farm, CWD Concerns Rise at Boone and Crockett Club
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
*** cwd - cervid captive livestock escapes, loose and on the run in the
wild
Singeltary submission ;
Program Standards: Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program and
Interstate Movement of Farmed or Captive Deer, Elk, and Moose
*** DOCUMENT ID: APHIS-2006-0118-0411
*** Spraker suggested an interesting explanation for the occurrence of CWD.
The deer pens at the Foot Hills Campus were built some 30-40 years ago by a Dr.
Bob Davis. At or abut that time, allegedly, some scrapie work was conducted at
this site. When deer were introduced to the pens they occupied ground that had
previously been occupied by sheep. ...
also, see where even decades back, the USDA had the same thought as they do
today with CWD, not their problem...see page 27 below as well, where USDA stated
back then, the same thing they stated in the state of Pennsylvania, not their
damn business, once they escape, and they said the same thing about CWD in
general back then ;
”The occurrence of CWD must be viewed against the contest of the locations
in which it occurred. It was an incidental and unwelcome complication of the
respective wildlife research programmes. Despite it’s subsequent recognition as
a new disease of cervids, therefore justifying direct investigation, no specific
research funding was forthcoming. The USDA veiwed it as a wildlife problem and
consequently not their province!” ...page 26.
”The occurrence of CWD must be viewed against the contest of the locations
in which it occurred. It was an incidental and unwelcome complication of the
respective wildlife research programmes. Despite it’s subsequent recognition as
a new disease of cervids, therefore justifying direct investigation, no specific
research funding was forthcoming. The USDA veiwed it as a wildlife problem and
consequently not their province!” ...page 26.
sound familiar $$$
Sunday, January 06, 2013
USDA TO PGC ONCE CAPTIVES ESCAPE
*** "it‘s no longer its business.”
Saturday, June 29, 2013
PENNSYLVANIA CAPTIVE CWD INDEX HERD MATE YELLOW *47 STILL RUNNING LOOSE IN
INDIANA, YELLOW NUMBER 2 STILL MISSING, AND OTHERS ON THE RUN STILL IN LOUISIANA
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Chronic Wasting Disease CWD quarantine Louisiana via CWD index herd
Pennsylvania Update May 28, 2013
*** 6 doe from Pennsylvania CWD index herd still on the loose in Louisiana,
quarantine began on October 18, 2012, still ongoing, Lake Charles premises.
Thursday, October 03, 2013
*** TAHC ADOPTS CWD RULE THAT the amendments REMOVE the requirement for a
specific fence height for captives
Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC)
ANNOUNCEMENT
October 3, 2013
Monday, March 03, 2014
*** APHIS to Offer Indemnity for CWD Positive Herds as Part of Its Cervid
Health Activities ???
Saturday, February 04, 2012
*** Wisconsin 16 age limit on testing dead deer Game Farm CWD Testing
Protocol Needs To Be Revised
Sunday, November 3, 2013
*** Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Animal Carcass
Management [Docket No. APHIS-2013-0044]
Sunday, September 01, 2013
*** hunting over gut piles and CWD TSE prion disease
Monday, October 07, 2013
The importance of localized culling in stabilizing chronic wasting disease
prevalence in white-tailed deer populations
Friday, March 07, 2014
37th Annual Southeast Deer Study Group Meeting in Athens, Georgia (CWD TSE
Prion abstracts)
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Potential role of soil properties in the spread of CWD in western Canada
Inactivation of the TSE Prion disease
Chronic Wasting Disease CWD, and other TSE prion disease, these TSE prions
know no borders.
these TSE prions know no age restrictions.
The TSE prion disease survives ashing to 600 degrees celsius, that’s around
1112 degrees farenheit.
you cannot cook the TSE prion disease out of meat.
you can take the ash and mix it with saline and inject that ash into a
mouse, and the mouse will go down with TSE.
Prion Infected Meat-and-Bone Meal Is Still Infectious after Biodiesel
Production as well.
the TSE prion agent also survives Simulated Wastewater Treatment Processes.
IN fact, you should also know that the TSE Prion agent will survive in the
environment for years, if not decades.
you can bury it and it will not go away.
The TSE agent is capable of infected your water table i.e. Detection of
protease-resistant cervid prion protein in water from a CWD-endemic area.
it’s not your ordinary pathogen you can just cook it out and be done with.
that’s what’s so worrisome about Iatrogenic mode of transmission, a simple
autoclave will not kill this TSE prion agent.
tss
Surveillance for CWD has been ongoing in Pennsylvania since 1998. The
agriculture department coordinates a mandatory CWD monitoring program for more
than 23,000 captive deer on 1,100 breeding farms, hobby farms and shooting
preserves. In addition, the Game Commission collects samples from
hunter-harvested deer and elk, as well as those that appear sick or behave
abnormally. According to the commission, they have tested more than 38,000 wild
deer and elk for CWD, and all have tested negative.
“I noticed that out of the now 23 states that have identified CWD, 13 of
those have identified it exclusively in captive animals,” noted Unified
Sportsmen of Pennsylvania president Randy Santucci. “That is a very high
percentage considering the amount of animals in the wild.”
Adams made the same observation: “It isn’t an accident that this disease is
very often associated with captive deer. So CWD showing up in Pennsylvania is no
surprise, because the state has more deer farms than any other state except
Texas.” Adams made the same observation: “It isn’t an accident that this disease
is very often associated with captive deer. So CWD showing up in Pennsylvania is
no surprise, because the state has more deer farms than any other state except
Texas.” Adams made the same observation: “It isn’t an accident that this
disease is very often associated with captive deer. So CWD showing up in
Pennsylvania is no surprise, because the state has more deer farms than any
other state except Texas.”
OLD HISTORY ON CWD AND GAME FARMS IN USA
Sunday, March 30, 2014
*** Chronic Wasting Disease Agents in Nonhuman Primates ***
*** our results raise the possibility that CJD cases classified as VV1 may
include cases caused by iatrogenic transmission of sCJD-MM1 prions or food-borne
infection by type 1 prions from animals, e.g., chronic wasting disease prions in
cervid. In fact, two CJD-VV1 patients who hunted deer or consumed venison have
been reported (40, 41). The results of the present study emphasize the need for
traceback studies and careful re-examination of the biochemical properties of
sCJD-VV1 prions. ***
Thursday, January 2, 2014
*** CWD TSE Prion in cervids to hTGmice, Heidenhain Variant
Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease MM1 genotype, and iatrogenic CJD ??? ***
Friday, March 14, 2014
TEXAS 2013-2014 CWD TESTING FINDS NO POSITIVES !
Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
posted by Terry S. Singeltary Sr. at
10:46 AM
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