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Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Wyoming Game and Fish finds CWD in new elk hunt area in southeast

Game and Fish finds CWD in new elk hunt area in southeast Wyoming

 

Wyoming Game & Fish Department sent this bulletin at 12/15/2015 03:10 PM MST

 

Fall3

 

Game and Fish finds CWD in new elk hunt area in southeast Wyoming

 

CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Game and Fish Department confirmed chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a cow elk that was observed to be in poor health near Elk Mountain and was lethally removed. CWD is a fatal neurological disease of deer, elk and moose. The elk was found in elk hunt area 11, which is flanked by elk hunt areas and overlaps with a deer hunt area where CWD had already been documented.

 

The elk was reported to Game and Fish on December 4, 2015 near Bear Creek, 5 miles southeast of the town of Elk Mountain.

 

Consistent with the Centers for Disease Control Game and Fish does not recommend people eat deer, elk or moose that test positive for CWD.

 

Game and Fish personnel continue to watch for deer, elk and moose that appear sick. Game and Fish also continues to collect samples through hunter field checks. Game and Fish personnel collect and analyze more than 1,600 CWD samples annually throughout the state.

 

Hunters who wish to have their deer, elk or moose tested for CWD outside of the department’s CWD surveillance program can to do so by contacting the Wyoming State Veterinary Lab at (307) 766-9925. Hunters submitting samples through the Game and Fish should be aware that it may take a few weeks after their animal is sampled to get their test results. Each person submitting a sample receives a sticker with information on how to check their results on our website.

 

For more information on chronic wasting disease transmission and regulations on transportation and disposal of carcasses please visit the Game and Fish website at: https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Wildlife-in-Wyoming/More-Wildlife/Wildlife-Disease/Chronic-Wasting-Disease/CWD-Disease-Info.

 

-WGFD-

 


 

Study: Chronic Wasting Disease kills 19% of deer herd annually

 

By Angus M. Thuermer Jr. | December 15, 2015

 

Chronic Wasting Disease will cause a Wyoming deer herd to go virtually extinct in 41 years, a five-year study predicts.

 

The investigation, which relied on the capture of 143 deer, examined the dynamics in the Southern Converse County Mule Deer Herd that lives southwest of Douglas near Laramie Peak. There, a population that once numbered some 14,000 in the early 2000s dwindled to half that size in about a decade.

 

The Chronic Wasting Disease study is one of only three that have been conducted on wild deer, elk or moose herds, none of which have yet seen print. While wildlife managers have long suspected CWD as a principle agent in the ravaged Converse herd, the study puts numbers on the problem, calculating a 19 percent decline annually.

 

University of Wyoming doctoral student Melia DeVivo spent four years of fieldwork and another year crunching numbers before defending her PhD thesis on the herd. She calculated the herd would go extinct in 41 years, without taking into account genetic differences that make some deer more resistant to CWD, or accounting for deer migration into the area. Even when taking in those factors, the herd will decline dramatically, she said.

 

“I estimated that CWD was causing a 19 percent annual reduction in the population, which is pretty significant,” she said. “Potentially, in 41 years, it would be locally extinct.”

 

snip...see full text ;

 


 

Melia DeVivo, Ph.D. - Veterinary Sciences

 

Indiana, Pennsylvania

 

Project: Epidemiology of chronic wasting disease in a mule deer in the endemic area of Wyoming

 

Advisor: Dr. Todd Cornish

 

Project Summary: The effects of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) populations are poorly understood. This study was designed to investigate the epidemiology of CWD in a free-ranging mule deer population in the CWD endemic area of Wyoming. Our first hypothesis is that CWD alters the behavior and activity patterns of free-ranging mule deer, resulting in differences in landscape use between CWD-positive and CWD-negative deer. Our second hypothesis is that CWD is negatively impacting mule deer populations by reducing the average lifespan of CWD-positive deer, and consequently their lifetime reproductive contribution to the population. Additionally, CWD-positive deer may produce fewer fawns compared to CWD-negative deer due to their diminished ability to adequately care for their young. Our study objectives are to determine disease status, pregnancy rates, and genetic susceptibility of free-ranging mule deer annually and monitor these deer using radio-telemetry and global positioning system (GPS) collars throughout their lifespan to determine: a) survival rates; b) home range size and habitat use; c) dispersal rates; d) migration patterns; e) daily activity patterns; and f) fawn productivity/recruitment. We will compare our results between the two sub-populations (CWD-positive and CWD-negative deer) and attempt to determine the role of CWD in population decline by calculating a population growth rate (λ) curve in response to CWD prevalence. Biosketch: Melia’s first wildlife job was working for the Pennsylvania Game Commission on research regarding elk calving habitat and survival in north-central PA as an undergrad at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). She graduated from IUP in 2007 with her B.S. in Pre-Medicine and then went on to receive her M.S. in Biology, also from IUP in 2009. While pursuing her M.S. degree, she became increasingly interested in wildlife diseases and was fortunate to have the opportunity to enroll at the University of Wyoming in 2010 to conduct research on chronic wasting disease in a free-ranging mule deer population. Currently, Melia is wrapping up her third field season and will be capturing deer in February 2013 for her fourth and final field year. She plans on graduating in the fall of 2014 and remaining in the Rocky Mountain West. In her “free time”, Melia enjoys downhill skiing, hiking, and crocheting while listening to RadioLab and This American Life.

 


 


 


 

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

 

Chronic Wasting Disease will cause a Wyoming deer herd to go virtually extinct in 41 years, a five-year study predicts

 

Study: Chronic Wasting Disease kills 19% of deer herd annually

 


 

Thursday, December 10, 2015

 

Wyoming Game and Fish seeks public comment on draft of updated CWD plan

 


 

Tuesday, December 08, 2015

 

Wyoming Game and Fish finds CWD in new elk hunt area in Johnson County

 


 

Friday, November 27, 2015

 

Wyoming Game and Fish finds CWD in new Deer Hunt Area near Sheridan

 


 

Wyoming WGF Commission Meeting 11/6/2015 Afternoon Edition Video

 

CWD starts at minute 58:51 of first hour of meeting discussion of previous models predicting extinction of deer population and elk population.

 

please mark hour 1:02 where remarks were made about potential resistant genes and prolonged survival, however a recent study (I posted directly next after youtube link) where it states ;

 

‘’Our study also demonstrates that mice expressing the deer S96-PRNP allele, previously shown to be resistant to various cervid prions, are susceptible to H95+ CWD prions. The potential for the generation of novel strains raises the possibility of an expanded host range for CWD. ‘’

 

hour minute mark 1:03

 

captive Elk study

 

39 femail elk calves captured on National Elk Refuge In Jackson, WY

 

Transported to WGFD Thorne-Williams Wildlife Research Unit (Sybille, TWWRU)

 

Worst-case scenario for prion exposure

 

Genotypes

 

-27 M/M132 (69.2%)

 

-11 M/L132 (28.2%)

 

-1 L/L132 (2.6%)

 

38 of 39 elk died over 10-year study

 

1 remaining elk was L/L132

 

still alive and remained negative for PrPCWD by rectal biopsy

 

Appears healthy, weighs 242kg, and bore healthy calf in May, 2012

 

CWD infection rate in this study ???

 


 

> During the analysis, 37 of 39 elk died, all of which were positive for CWD.

 


 

*** Our study also demonstrates that mice expressing the deer S96-PRNP allele, previously shown to be resistant to various cervid prions, are susceptible to H95+ CWD prions. ***

 

*** The potential for the generation of novel strains raises the possibility of an expanded host range for CWD. ***

 

Deer Prion Proteins Modulate the Emergence and Adaptation of Chronic Wasting Disease Strains

 

Camilo Duque Velásqueza,b, Chiye Kima,c, Allen Herbsta,b, Nathalie Daudea,d, Maria Carmen Garzaa,e, Holger Willea,e, Judd Aikena,b and Debbie McKenziea,c aCentre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada bDepartment of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada cDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada dDepartment of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada eDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

 

B. Caughey, Editor

 

+ Author Affiliations

 

ABSTRACT

 

Transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) between cervids is influenced by the primary structure of the host cellular prion protein (PrPC). In white-tailed deer, PRNP alleles encode the polymorphisms Q95 G96 (wild type [wt]), Q95 S96 (referred to as the S96 allele), and H95 G96 (referred to as the H95 allele), which differentially impact CWD progression. We hypothesize that the transmission of CWD prions between deer expressing different allotypes of PrPC modifies the contagious agent affecting disease spread. To evaluate the transmission properties of CWD prions derived experimentally from deer of four PRNP genotypes (wt/wt, S96/wt, H95/wt, or H95/S96), transgenic (tg) mice expressing the wt allele (tg33) or S96 allele (tg60) were challenged with these prion agents. Passage of deer CWD prions into tg33 mice resulted in 100% attack rates, with the CWD H95/S96 prions having significantly longer incubation periods. The disease signs and neuropathological and protease-resistant prion protein (PrP-res) profiles in infected tg33 mice were similar between groups, indicating that a prion strain (Wisc-1) common to all CWD inocula was amplified. In contrast, tg60 mice developed prion disease only when inoculated with the H95/wt and H95/S96 CWD allotypes. Serial passage in tg60 mice resulted in adaptation of a novel CWD strain (H95+) with distinct biological properties. Transmission of first-passage tg60CWD-H95+ isolates into tg33 mice, however, elicited two prion disease presentations consistent with a mixture of strains associated with different PrP-res glycotypes. Our data indicate that H95-PRNP heterozygous deer accumulated two CWD strains whose emergence was dictated by the PrPC primary structure of the recipient host. These findings suggest that CWD transmission between cervids expressing distinct PrPC molecules results in the generation of novel CWD strains.

 

IMPORTANCE CWD prions are contagious among wild and captive cervids in North America and in South Korea. We present data linking the amino acid variant Q95H in white-tailed deer cellular prion protein (PrPC) to the emergence of a novel CWD strain (H95+). We show that, upon infection, deer expressing H95-PrPC molecules accumulated a mixture of CWD strains that selectively propagated depending on the PRNP genotype of the host in which they were passaged. Our study also demonstrates that mice expressing the deer S96-PRNP allele, previously shown to be resistant to various cervid prions, are susceptible to H95+ CWD prions. The potential for the generation of novel strains raises the possibility of an expanded host range for CWD.

 


 

*** Our study also demonstrates that mice expressing the deer S96-PRNP allele, previously shown to be resistant to various cervid prions, are susceptible to H95+ CWD prions. ***

 

*** The potential for the generation of novel strains raises the possibility of an expanded host range for CWD. ***

 

UPDATE CWD VACCINE ELK minute mark 1:22:00

 

VACCINE

 

RECOMBINANT PROTEIN FUSION VACCINE

 

Hedlin, PD et al ‘’Design and delivery of a cryptic PrP c epitope for induction of Prp Sc-specific antibody responses.’’ Vaccine 28.4 (2010) 981-988.

 

PAN-PROVINCIAL VACCINE ENTERPRISES (PREVENT)

 

Dose: 2ml IM CWD VACCINE UPDATE IS A FAILURE, I REPEAT, A NEGATIVE RESULTS FOR CWD VACCINE. .tss

 


 

Monday, November 16, 2015

 

*** Wyoming Latest round of testing CWD surveillance program has found the disease in three new hunt areas

 


 

Saturday, November 14, 2015

 

Wyoming Chronic Wasting Disease CWD Surveillance Results 2014 reported in 2015

 


 

Saturday, December 12, 2015

 

CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION REPORT DECEMBER 14, 2015

 


 

 

Terry S. Singeltary Sr.

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