Sunday, June 29, 2014
Chronic wasting disease spreads in W.Va.
By John McCoy, Staff writer JOHN McCOY | Sunday Gazette-Mail
Since chronic wasting disease was found in a single Hampshire County deer
in 2006,the disease has spread steadily to encompass roughly 108 square miles of
Hampshire and Hardy counties.
Sunday Gazette-Mail
Since chronic wasting disease was found in a single Hampshire County deer
in 2006, the disease has spread steadily to encompass roughly 108 square miles
of Hampshire and Hardy counties.
The numbers are in, and to deer hunters they’re discouraging.
They show that chronic wasting disease is spreading inside West Virginia,
and it’s infecting more deer in areas where it occurs. Jim Crum, deer project
leader for the state Division of Natural Resources, called statistics from the
agency’s latest CWD sampling effort “unsettling.”
“Of the 591 tissue samples we extracted from hunter-killed deer last fall
in Hampshire County, 29 were positive for CWD,” Crum said. “That’s the highest
number of positives we’ve ever had. The year before, by way of comparison, we
took 672 samples and got 16 positives.”
The disease, which kills deer in much the same way mad cow disease kills
cattle, was first discovered in the Mountain State near Slanesville, Hampshire
County, in 2006. DNR officials immediately set up a “CWD containment zone” in an
effort to keep the always-fatal malady from spreading.
They encouraged hunters to kill more deer by setting up a special
antlerless-deer hunt within the county. They imposed restrictions on
transporting deer carcasses outside the containment zone. They took tissue
samples from hunter-killed deer at 11 game-checking stations within Hampshire
County. They had agency sharpshooters kill additional deer each spring to help
monitor the disease’s prevalence.
Despite their efforts, CWD continued to spread slowly but steadily.
Based on samples taken within a designated 39-square-mile area within the
containment zone in central Hampshire County, the prevalence of infected deer
has increased from 7 percent to almost 25 percent. Crum said he doesn’t know how
high the percentage might eventually go.
“It probably won’t go to 100 percent,” he said. “The highest known
prevalence ever reported was about 50 percent, so we’ll probably top out short
of that.”
Equally disturbing to DNR officials has been the disease’s geographic
spread. In 2006, all the CWD-positive samples were contained within a
15-square-mile area. Since then, the infected area has expanded to 108 square
miles and has crossed the line into neighboring Hardy County.
Crum said the expansion has been steady.
“In 2006, the area was 15 square miles; in 2007, it was 25; in 2008, it was
32; in 2009, it was 49; in 2010, it was 61; in 2011, it was 73; in 2012, it was
85; and last year it was 108,” he said. “If you graph that out, it’s a pretty
neat line.”
Following that trend, the infected area should increase by approximately 13
square miles a year, a rate that could encompass all of Hampshire County within
40 years.
The worry is that deer from the containment area — especially young,
footloose bucks — might wander far enough outside the zone to expand it rapidly.
CWD-infected whitetails have been found in parts of Maryland, Virginia and
Pennsylvania not far from Hampshire County’s borders.
Crum said the current CWD-positive count for neighboring states’ wild-deer
population stands at seven for Virginia, five for Pennsylvania and two for
Maryland.
CWD was originally endemic only to states west of the Mississippi River,
but leapfrogged its way fairly quickly to Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic and
Northeastern states. Because several states’ “first cases” were found near
captive deer facilities, wildlife disease experts suspect that deer farmers’
tendency to swap animals across state lines helped spread the disease more
rapidly than it otherwise might have.
Crum, himself a Ph.D. in wildlife diseases, said biologists in nearby
states are now fully alert to the disease’s potential for spread.
“When we first found CWD here, a few of us biologists from West Virginia,
Virginia and Maryland started meeting informally to keep abreast of what was
going on,” he said. “At our last meeting, which took place just recently, there
were close to 40 people, including folks from Ohio, New York, Delaware and New
Jersey.”
Crum said biologists doubt that CWD can be limited to existing areas,
mainly because the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s effort to monitor the
disease among captive herds “is broke.”
“They have a list, but not all the animals known to be infected are on the
list, and [deer farmers and breeders] are transporting animals all over the
place,” he said. “Right now, I’m not optimistic we can keep the disease from
spreading.”
In West Virginia, CWD has been found in 162 white-tailed deer. Testing of road-kill deer in all WV counties has been continuous since 2002. The WVDNR, Wildlife Resources Section, in cooperation with the SE Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia and the Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, has tested more than 15,023 deer from West Virginia for CWD and as of June 2014, the 159 Hampshire County deer and three Hardy County deer are the only animals found thus far to have the abnormal prion associated with CWD.
Friday, March 07, 2014
37th Annual Southeast Deer Study Group Meeting in Athens, Georgia (CWD TSE
Prion abstracts)
Friday, February 28, 2014
West Virginia Deer farming bill passes in House unanimously
see case incident of cwd in West Virginia
In West Virginia, CWD has been found in 133 white-tailed deer. Testing of
road-kill deer in all WV counties has been continuous since 2002. The WVDNR,
Wildlife Resources Section, in cooperation with the SE Cooperative Wildlife
Disease Study at the University of Georgia and the Minnesota Veterinary
Diagnostic Laboratory, has tested over 14,432 deer from West Virginia for CWD
and as of June 2013, the 131 Hampshire County deer and two Hardy County deer are
the only animals found thus far to have the abnormal prion associated with CWD.
***We hypothesize that both BSE prions and CWD prions passaged through
felines will seed human recPrP more efficiently than BSE or CWD from the
original hosts, evidence that the new host will dampen the species barrier
between humans and BSE or CWD. The new host effect is particularly relevant as
we investigate potential means of trans-species transmission of prion
disease....
P.28: Modeling prion species barriers and the new host effect using
RT-QuIC
Kristen A Davenport, Davin M Henderson, Candace K Mathiason, and Edward A
Hoover Prion Research Center; Colorado State University; Fort Collins, CO
USA
The propensity for trans-species prion transmission is related to the
structural characteristics of the enciphering and heterologous PrP, but the
exact mechanism remains mostly mysterious. Studies of the effects of primary or
tertiary prion protein www.landesbioscience.com Prion 37 structures on
trans-species prion transmission have relied upon animal bioassays, making the
influence of prion protein structure vs. host co-factors (e.g. cellular
constituents, trafficking, and innate immune interactions) difficult to dissect.
As an alternative strategy, we are using real-time quaking-induced conversion
(RT-QuIC) to investigate the propensity for and the kinetics of trans-species
prion conversion. RT-QuIC has the advantage of providing more defined conditions
of seeded conversion to study the specific role of native PrP:PrPRES
interactions as a component of the species barrier.
We are comparing chronic wasting disease (CWD) and bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE) prions by seeding each prion into its native host recPrP
(full-length bovine recPrP, or white tail deer recPrP) vs. into the heterologous
species. Upon establishing the characteristics of intra-species and
inter-species prion seeding for CWD and BSE prions, we will evaluate the seeding
kinetics and cross-species seeding efficiencies of BSE and CWD passaged into a
common new host—feline—shown to be a permissive host for both CWD and BSE.
We hypothesize that both BSE prions and CWD prions passaged through felines
will seed human recPrP more efficiently than BSE or CWD from the original hosts,
evidence that the new host will dampen the species barrier between humans and
BSE or CWD. The new host effect is particularly relevant as we investigate
potential means of trans-species transmission of prion disease.
Monday, June 23, 2014
PRION 2014 CONFERENCE
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD
A FEW FINDINGS ;
Conclusions. To our knowledge, this is the first established experimental
model of CWD in TgSB3985. We found evidence for co-existence or divergence of
two CWD strains adapted to Tga20 mice and their replication in TgSB3985 mice.
Finally, we observed phenotypic differences between cervid-derived CWD and
CWD/Tg20 strains upon propagation in TgSB3985 mice. Further studies are underway
to characterize these strains.
We conclude that TSE infectivity is likely to survive burial for long time
periods with minimal loss of infectivity and limited movement from the original
burial site. However PMCA results have shown that there is the potential for
rainwater to elute TSE related material from soil which could lead to the
contamination of a wider area. These experiments reinforce the importance of
risk assessment when disposing of TSE risk materials.
The results show that even highly diluted PrPSc can bind efficiently to
polypropylene, stainless steel, glass, wood and stone and propagate the
conversion of normal prion protein. For in vivo experiments, hamsters were ic
injected with implants incubated in 1% 263K-infected brain homogenate. Hamsters,
inoculated with 263K-contaminated implants of all groups, developed typical
signs of prion disease, whereas control animals inoculated with non-contaminated
materials did not.
Our data establish that meadow voles are permissive to CWD via peripheral
exposure route, suggesting they could serve as an environmental reservoir for
CWD. Additionally, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that at least two
strains of CWD circulate in naturally-infected cervid populations and provide
evidence that meadow voles are a useful tool for CWD strain typing.
Conclusion. CWD prions are shed in saliva and urine of infected deer as
early as 3 months post infection and throughout the subsequent >1.5 year
course of infection. In current work we are examining the relationship of
prionemia to excretion and the impact of excreted prion binding to surfaces and
particulates in the environment.
Conclusion. CWD prions (as inferred by prion seeding activity by RT-QuIC)
are shed in urine of infected deer as early as 6 months post inoculation and
throughout the subsequent disease course. Further studies are in progress
refining the real-time urinary prion assay sensitivity and we are examining more
closely the excretion time frame, magnitude, and sample variables in
relationship to inoculation route and prionemia in naturally and experimentally
CWD-infected cervids.
Conclusions. Our results suggested that the odds of infection for CWD is
likely controlled by areas that congregate deer thus increasing direct
transmission (deer-to-deer interactions) or indirect transmission
(deer-to-environment) by sharing or depositing infectious prion proteins in
these preferred habitats. Epidemiology of CWD in the eastern U.S. is likely
controlled by separate factors than found in the Midwestern and endemic areas
for CWD and can assist in performing more efficient surveillance efforts for the
region.
Conclusions. During the pre-symptomatic stage of CWD infection and
throughout the course of disease deer may be shedding multiple LD50 doses per
day in their saliva. CWD prion shedding through saliva and excreta may account
for the unprecedented spread of this prion disease in nature.
Monday, June 23, 2014
*** PRION 2014 CONFERENCE CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD ***
Monday, June 23, 2014
*** PRION 2014 CONFERENCE TYPICAL AND ATYPICAL BSE AND CJD REPORT UPDATES
***
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Governor Nixon Missouri Urged to VETO Legislation turning over captive
shooting pens to USDA
snip...
PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO OF A CAPTIVE SHOOTING PEN HUNT.
THIS IS NOT HUNTING FOLKS, THIS IS JUST SLAUGHTERING A DEFENSELESS ANIMAL,
AND HAVING TO PROP IT UP TO DO THAT $$$
Michigan 2005 237 captive shooting pens not in compliance
March 2005 DNR Audit
37 % or 237 captive pens not in compliance.
96% that died were not tested for CWD, as was required.
700 captive pens had inadequate fencing.
tranquilizing target deer...
Measuring antlers to verify scores for record book.
Scooping up with front in loading tractor, and dumping into small 3 to 5
acre pen to be shot for up to $20,000.00
how did the fix the problem, turned the DNR over to the USDA et al, problem
solved...
‘’The rich...who are content to buy what they have not the skill to get by
their own exertions, these are the real enemies of game’’
Theodore Roosevelt’s Principles of the Hunt
snip...see full text ;
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Governor Nixon Missouri Urged to VETO Legislation turning over captive
shooting pens to USDA
Thursday, June 26, 2014
CWD NO ACCIDENT
CWD NO ACCIDENT VIDEO
According to Wisconsin’s White-Tailed Deer Trustee Dr. James Kroll, people
who call for more public hunting opportunities are “pining for socialism.”
He further states, “(Public) Game management is the last bastion of
communism.”
“Game Management,” says James Kroll, driving to his high-fenced,
two-hundred-acre spread near Nacogdoches, “is the last bastion of communism.”
Kroll, also known as Dr. Deer, is the director of the Forestry Resources
Institute of Texas at Stephen F. Austin State University, and the “management”
he is referring to is the sort practiced by the State of Texas.
The 55-year-old Kroll is the leading light in the field of private deer
management as a means to add value to the land. His belief is so absolute that
some detractors refer to him as Dr. Dough, implying that his eye is on the
bottom line more than on the natural world.
Kroll, who has been the foremost proponent of deer ranching in Texas for
more than thirty years, doesn’t mind the controversy and certainly doesn’t fade
in the heat. People who call for more public lands are “cocktail
conservationists,” he says, who are really pining for socialism. He calls
national parks “wildlife ghettos” and flatly accuses the government of gross
mismanagement. He argues that his relatively tiny acreage, marked by eight-foot
fences and posted signs warning off would-be poachers, is a better model for
keeping what’s natural natural while making money off the land.
snip...
What does this all mean?
My initial reaction, which is one that I predicted when Kroll was named to
the state’s deer trustee position, is that his team’s final recommendations — if
implemented — will be heavily skewed toward the state’s larger landowners (500+
acres) and folks who own small parcels in areas comprised mostly of private
land. It is also my prediction that the final recommendations (again, if
implemented) will do little, if anything, to improve deer herds and deer hunting
on Wisconsin’s 5.7 million acres of public land. Where does this leave the
public-land hunter? “It will suck to be you,” said one deer manager who asked to
remain anonymous out of fear for his job. “The resources and efforts will go
toward improving the private land sector. This is all about turning deer hunting
away from the Public Land Doctrine and more toward a European-style of
management — like they have in Texas.”
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
spreading cwd around...tss
Between 1996 and 2002, chronic wasting disease was diagnosed in 39 herds of
farmed elk in Saskatchewan in a single epidemic. All of these herds were
depopulated as part of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) disease
eradication program. Animals, primarily over 12 mo of age, were tested for the
presence CWD prions following euthanasia. Twenty-one of the herds were linked
through movements of live animals with latent CWD from a single infected source
herd in Saskatchewan, 17 through movements of animals from 7 of the secondarily
infected herds.
***The source herd is believed to have become infected via importation of
animals from a game farm in South Dakota where CWD was subsequently diagnosed
(7,4). A wide range in herd prevalence of CWD at the time of herd depopulation
of these herds was observed. Within-herd transmission was observed on some
farms, while the disease remained confined to the introduced animals on other
farms.
spreading cwd around...tss
Friday, May 13, 2011
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) outbreaks and surveillance program in the
Republic of Korea Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) outbreaks and surveillance
program in the Republic of Korea
Hyun-Joo Sohn, Yoon-Hee Lee, Min-jeong Kim, Eun-Im Yun, Hyo-Jin Kim,
Won-Yong Lee, Dong-Seob Tark, In- Soo Cho, Foreign Animal Disease Research
Division, National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, Republic of Korea
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been recognized as an important prion
disease in native North America deer and Rocky mountain elks. The disease is a
unique member of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), which
naturally affects only a few species. CWD had been limited to USA and Canada
until 2000.
On 28 December 2000, information from the Canadian government showed that a
total of 95 elk had been exported from farms with CWD to Korea. These consisted
of 23 elk in 1994 originating from the so-called “source farm” in Canada, and 72
elk in 1997, which had been held in pre export quarantine at the “source
farm”.Based on export information of CWD suspected elk from Canada to Korea, CWD
surveillance program was initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
(MAF) in 2001.
All elks imported in 1997 were traced back, however elks imported in 1994
were impossible to identify. CWD control measures included stamping out of all
animals in the affected farm, and thorough cleaning and disinfection of the
premises. In addition, nationwide clinical surveillance of Korean native
cervids, and improved measures to ensure reporting of CWD suspect cases were
implemented.
Total of 9 elks were found to be affected. CWD was designated as a
notifiable disease under the Act for Prevention of Livestock Epidemics in 2002.
Additional CWD cases - 12 elks and 2 elks - were diagnosed in 2004 and
2005.
Since February of 2005, when slaughtered elks were found to be positive,
all slaughtered cervid for human consumption at abattoirs were designated as
target of the CWD surveillance program. Currently, CWD laboratory testing is
only conducted by National Reference Laboratory on CWD, which is the Foreign
Animal Disease Division (FADD) of National Veterinary Research and Quarantine
Service (NVRQS).
In July 2010, one out of 3 elks from Farm 1 which were slaughtered for the
human consumption was confirmed as positive. Consequently, all cervid – 54 elks,
41 Sika deer and 5 Albino deer – were culled and one elk was found to be
positive. Epidemiological investigations were conducted by Veterinary
Epidemiology Division (VED) of NVRQS in collaboration with provincial veterinary
services.
Epidemiologically related farms were found as 3 farms and all cervid at
these farms were culled and subjected to CWD diagnosis. Three elks and 5
crossbreeds (Red deer and Sika deer) were confirmed as positive at farm 2.
All cervids at Farm 3 and Farm 4 – 15 elks and 47 elks – were culled and
confirmed as negative.
Further epidemiological investigations showed that these CWD outbreaks were
linked to the importation of elks from Canada in 1994 based on circumstantial
evidences.
In December 2010, one elk was confirmed as positive at Farm 5.
Consequently, all cervid – 3 elks, 11 Manchurian Sika deer and 20 Sika deer –
were culled and one Manchurian Sika deer and seven Sika deer were found to be
positive. This is the first report of CWD in these sub-species of deer.
Epidemiological investigations found that the owner of the Farm 2 in CWD
outbreaks in July 2010 had co-owned the Farm 5.
In addition, it was newly revealed that one positive elk was introduced
from Farm 6 of Jinju-si Gyeongsang Namdo. All cervid – 19 elks, 15 crossbreed
(species unknown) and 64 Sika deer – of Farm 6 were culled, but all confirmed as
negative.
: Corresponding author: Dr. Hyun-Joo Sohn (+82-31-467-1867, E-mail:
shonhj@korea.kr) 2011 Pre-congress Workshop: TSEs in animals and their
environment 5
Friday, May 13, 2011
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) outbreaks and surveillance program in the
Republic of Korea
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 ???
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.
SUMMARY:
Friday, May 30, 2014
Wisconsin Waushara County hunting preserve ordered to pay civil forfeiture
in CWD case
Friday, April 04, 2014
Wisconsin State officials kept silent on CWD discovery at game farm
Tuesday, February 11, 2014 *** Wisconsin tracks 81 deer from game farm with
CWD buck to seven other states
Friday, May 30, 2014
Wisconsin Waushara County hunting preserve ordered to pay civil forfeiture
in CWD case
TSS
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