Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Oppose Indiana House Bill 1265 game farming cervids

Oppose Indiana House Bill 1265 game farming cervids






From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr.

Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 2:06 PM

To: h57@in.gov

Cc: h51@in.gov; h75@in.gov; h53@in.gov; h46@in.gov; h30@in.gov; h54@in.gov; h62@in.gov; h69@in.gov; h64@in.gov; h17@in.gov; h42@in.gov; h56@in.gov


Subject: re-Indiana game farming cervids and CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE THERE FROM






From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr.

Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 1:56 PM

To: info@indianawildlife.org

Cc: dnrwebmaster@dnr.IN.gov; s1@iga.in.gov; s4@iga.in.gov; h57@in.gov; simpson@indianawildlife.org; twardy@indianawildlife.org; watson@indianawildlife.org





Subject: Re: re-Indiana game farming cervids and CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE THERE FROM House Bill 1265




redo !!!





Subject: re-Indiana game farming cervids and CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE THERE FROM House Bill 1265



Greetings Indiana Government et al ;



re-Indiana game farming cervids and CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE THERE FROM




House Bill 1265, which passed out of the Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday, would make it legal to hunt farm-raised cervidea – deer .....



common sense went out the door long ago $$$


http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2012/IN/IN1265.1.html




be warned, risk your cervid population at your own risks $$$



game farms are nothing more than a petri dish for prion disease and other disease.


DID you see the lates fact that Wisconsin has documented 9 CWD INFECTION GAME FARMS to date, with one of them having the highest CWD infection rate ever, at 80% CWD infection rate.
the highest infection rate to date in the WORLD.


Also, a new study out yesterday on interspecies transmission of CWD and other TSE prion disease, is much easier than first thought.



please see ;






Don’t Forget CWD



Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 | Posted by Dr. Dave Samuel




Nebraska just announced the finding of Chronic Wasting Disease in several counties in the center of the state. This shows the continued spread from western Nebraska. So what you say, “It’s obvious that CWD can’t spread to humans and it sure doesn’t seem to be hurting our deer herds.”


Maybe. Maybe on both counts. The release of information showing the spread of CWD in Nebraska (where I hunt every fall in the eastern part of the state) caused me to check out the website,
http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/ . That blog lists a lot of other website with tons of information on CWD. CWD is not spread by bacteria but rather by prions that invade and destroy the brain. One very similar disease of humans is Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease. This blog presents a lot of information on that disease relative to whether humans can get CWD from diseased deer or elk.



Bottom line is that we don’t know a lot about prions. We do know that prions survive in soil for years. We know that deer can be placed in an area where CWD lived and after being removed for over a year, deer placed there again get CWD.


We don’t know how long prions stay viable in the soil. My guess is . . . many, many years. Maybe decades. We know that deer have prions in nervous tissue but also in lymph tissue and even muscles. We know that prions are spread via saliva and urine. (In fact that is why many states are concerned about baiting for deer.) We don’t think prions can be spread via eating deer meat but we aren’t positive. Scary because another prion disease ‘mad cow disease’ can be spread from cows to humans leading to death.


I don’t want to play the ‘what if’ game, but ‘what if’ one hunter got CWD from eating deer meat and that hunter died? Let’s not go there. The ramifications are beyond comprehension.


Another aspect of this problem is found on the above website as well as
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/ . I invite you to go to this website and after you peruse it you will see the relationship of CWD and deer farms. They discuss the Almond deer farm in Wisconsin. A buck shot there in 2002 had CWD and this led to all deer there being killed in 2006. Sixty of the 76 deer killed were CWD positive. In order to keep control of this situation and make sure the fence separating the contaminated farm from wild deer remained intact, the DNR bought the farm in 2011. Remember, this farm probably has CWD prions in the soil, so the potential for spread to wild deer is real. However, 1200 deer outside the farm have been tested and no CWD was found. The DNR wants to make sure the fences stay intact, so they bought it and will do research on CWD there. Seems like a good idea.


A total decontamination of the farm was conducted, but there is no way to know whether prions are still in the soil. They probably are. All timber along the fence is being cut to protect the fence. A second fence 12 feet from the first is being constructed. Apparently the Wisconsin DNR is very concerned about the spread of CWD.


If baiting for deer has been shown to exacerbate the spread of CWD then why do we find baiting being legalized in more and more states? The reason is simple. Hunters want baiting and they apply political pressure to keep baiting if they have it or to get baiting if they do not have it. The DNR in my home state of West Virginia would love to stop baiting for deer to prevent, or slow the spread of CWD from the eastern panhandle of the state, but the hunters won’t let that happen. A political hot potato.


Again, check out the above two web sites then tell me that CWD is not a potential problem for hunters and deer. This ain’t your average disease. So far, humans eating venison are OK and so far deer herds are OK too. But packing large numbers of deer in small areas is an experiment and only time will tell if ‘it’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature.’



http://bowhunting.net/2012/01/dont-forget-cwd/






CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD WISCONSIN Almond Deer (Buckhorn Flats) Farm Update DECEMBER 2011



Form 1100-001



(R 2/11)

NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD AGENDA ITEM

SUBJECT: Inf01mation Item: Almond Deer Fatm Update

FOR: DECEIVIBER 2011 BOARD MEETING



SNIP...


These laboratory results show that 60 of the 76 animals tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The 76 deer constituted the breeding herd on Hall’s farm. He also operated a hunting preserve on the property until 2005. Four deer, two does and two fawns, the only deer remaining in the former preserve, were killed and tested as well. CWD was not detected in those animals. The total number of deer to test positive from this farm from the initial discovery to final depopulation is 82. The CWD infection rate was nearly 80%, the highest ever in a North American captive herd.



SNIP...


Despite the five year premise plan and site decontamination, The WI DNR has concerns over the bioavailability of infectious prions at this site to wild white-tail deer should these fences be removed. Current research indicates that prions can persist in soil for a minimum of 3 years. However, Georgsson et al. (2006) concluded that prions that produced scrapie disease in sheep remained bioavailable and infectious for at least 16 years in natural Icelandic environments, most likely in contaminated soil. Additionally, the authors reported that from 1978-2004, scrapie recurred on 33 sheep farms, of which 9 recurrences occurred 14-21 years after initial culling and subsequent restocking efforts; these findings further emphasize the effect of environmental contamination on sustaining TSE infectivity and that long-term persistence of prions in soils may be substantially greater than previously thought. Evidence of environmental transmission also was documented in a Colorado research facility where mule deer became infected with CWD in two of three paddocks where infected deer carcasses had decomposed on site 1.8 years earlier, and in one of three paddocks where infected deer had last resided 2.2 years earlier (Miller et al. 2004).



SNIP...


http://dnr.wi.gov/org/nrboard/2011/december/12-11-2b2.pdf





snip...
With CWD spreading, and CJD rising in the USA and Canada, with rise in pcsCJD i.e. pending classification sporadic CJD i.e. they don’t know what or where in the world this strain came from, and refuse to investigate further, ignoring updated science that not only has CWD mutated into a second strain i.e. Wisconsin Strain of CWD, and the fact that many scientist around the globe are very concerned for the potential of CWD being a zoonosis disease. Also ignoring recent updated science that shows a link between atypical BSE and atypical Scrapie with sporadic CJD. All this moved me to dig a bit deeper into these game farms that raise deer and or elk to enhance their natural size and antler spread and circumference i.e. farmed ‘straw’ bred bucks. in my opinion, there is no ethics in hunter farmed 'straw' bred bucks. I wanted to find out just how dangerous these game farms are to the wild, considering for the captives, most are nothing more than a petri dish for disease i.e. CWD.
What I found was interested, and concerning. the close proximity from cwd infected game farm to cwd infected game farm, and the CWD infection in the wild surrounding those said game farms.
I wrote the Wisconsin DNR and division of animal health asking ;
‘‘Could you please tell me where I can locate the information on each CWD infected game farm in Wisconsin (all nine to date), dates they became infected, infection rate, etc. ???’’
They were very kind in replying and supplied the following information ;
Farm CWD first Detected Incidence
Hall 09-04-2002 82 1 hunted in 2002, 6 hunted in 2003, 10 hunted in 2004, 4 in breeding herd 2005, 61 in breeding herd 2006 (60 of 76 at depop)
Hirschboeck 09-20-2002 6 2 in 2002 & 4 of 122 at depopulation
Sperber 03-05-2003 1 197 remaining depoped
Hetzel 10-03-2003 1 2 remaining depoped
Breber 05-01-2004 1 15 remaining depoped
Kuhnke 07-28-2004 3 1 in July, 1 in Aug, 1 of 23 at depop
Christensen 01-07-2005 2 1 in 2007, owner killed and buried remaining 33
Landwer 09-22-2008 2 1 of 66 at depop
Hookstead 10-01-2008 1 2 remaining depoped
---------
99 total positives
Dr Bourie
CWD Program Manager
Div of Animal Health
======================
From: Ryan, Tamara M – DNR
Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2012 4:11 PM
To: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. ; Bourie, Richard D – DATCP
Cc: Thiede, Kurt A - DNR ; Ross, Laurie J - DNR ; Hauge, Tom M – DNR
Subject: RE: Singeltary request re cwd game farms Wisconsin
Hello Terry –Thanks for checking in. Please know that attempts have been made to respond to your request. Dr. Bourie of DATCP responded on Monday which was the same date your email was forwarded to him. However, I received an email from him advising that his email communications to your email address were bouncing back & he requested additional contact information. I looked into this and determined we only had your email address. I’m certain that he will be getting in contact with you once he sees this email chain. In the interim, please respond to all with your phone number & address just in case.
Thank you.
P Tami Ryan
Wildlife Health Section Chief Bureau of Wildlife Management Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Phone: 608-266-3143 Fax: 608-267-7857 Email: tamara.ryan@wi.gov
From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. [mailto:flounder9@verizon.net]
Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2012 3:52 PM
To: Ryan, Tamara M - DNR; Bourie, Richard D – DATCP
Cc: Thiede, Kurt A - DNR; Ross, Laurie J - DNR; Hauge, Tom M - DNR Subject: Re: Singeltary request re cwd game farms Wisconsin
Greetings again WDNR et al,
I have still yet to get any answer about my questions below.
‘‘Could you please tell me where I can locate the information on each CWD infected game farm in Wisconsin (all nine to date), dates they became infected, infection rate, etc. ???’’
this is important information, and the public should be able to acquire this information, you would think ?
thank you,
kind regards,
terry
From: Ryan, Tamara M - DNR
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2012 8:10 AM
To: Bourie, Richard D - DATCP
Cc: Thiede, Kurt A - DNR ; Ross, Laurie J - DNR ; Hauge, Tom M - DNR ; flounder9@verizon.net
Subject: FW: Singeltary request re cwd game farms Wisconsin
Mr. Singeltary – This information can be obtained from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). I’ve copied Dr. Bourie from DATCP who is the best person to respond to your request.
Dr. Bourie – Please respond to Mr. Singeltary on the email request below. Thank you.
Tami
P Tami Ryan Wildlife Health Section Chief Bureau of Wildlife Management Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Phone: 608-266-3143 Fax: 608-267-7857 Email: tamara.ryan@wi.gov
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. [mailto:flounder9@verizon.net]
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 02:15 PM
To: Ross, Laurie J - DNR Subject: cwd game farms Wisconsin
Greetings WDNR et al,
Could you please tell me where I can locate the information on each CWD infected game farm in Wisconsin (all nine to date), dates they became infected, infection rate, etc. ???
many thanks,
kind regards,
terry
===============end...TSS===============
snip...
strange this comes out after two weeks of me asking questions ???
Bourie and Deer Farmers Weather the CWD Storm
By lsiekmann | Published: February 2, 2012
HOW could one call 9 infected CWD game farms, weathering the storm ???
MOST disturbing about the 9 CWD infected game farms in Wisconsin in report above, was the ‘Christensen’ farm, where the ‘owner killed and buried remaining 33’ deer. what’s disturbing to me is not the fact that 33 potentially CWD infected deer were buried, apparently before any CWD testing was done on those remaining 33 suspect CWD exposed deer. that could be one heck of a hot spot for years, decades to come. seems the officials could have dug those deer up, incinerated the remains, then dug up the soil around that pit where all those dead, suspect deer were buried at, and then treat all that soil some how. seems the ‘Christensen’ farm was trying to hide something. ...just my take...tss
A review of those 9 CWD infected game farms in Wisconsin ;
Hirschboeck 09-20-2002 6 2 in 2002 & 4 of 122 at depopulation
Wisconsin : DNR Hunting Deer That Escaped From Farm Now Under Quarantine
Date: October 24, 2002 Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Contacts: Lee Bergquist lbergquist@journalsentinel.com
State officials said Wednesday they recently learned that several deer escaped in March from a northern Walworth County deer farm that is known to have harbored at least one deer with chronic wasting disease.
The DNR has dispatched wardens to a game farm owned by James Hirschboeck of the Town of Troy in the hope of finding and killing the deer, which are believed to be roaming in the wild.
Hirschboeck is also under investigation, accused of trying to sell deer that had been quarantined and could not be moved, an affidavit filed for a search warrant in Dane County says.
The affidavit also says Hirschboeck is suspected in the past four weeks of trying to entice another deer farm operator with whom he had done business to falsify records.
In an interview, Hirschboeck denied any wrongdoing. "None of that is true," he said.
Warden Karl Brooks said the escapes of "several" deer took place in March - shortly after the fatal deer disease was first reported in the wild deer population near Mount Horeb in Dane County.
This is the first admission by state officials that deer have escaped from a game farm tainted by the disease.
The escaped deer are believed to have tags in their ears. Neighbors have reported seeing deer with ear tags near Hirschboeck's 80-acre farm, Brooks said.
In addition to efforts to kill the tagged deer, Brooks said, an estimated 500 deer that will be killed and tested this hunting season in Walworth County will help determine whether the fatal brain disease has moved to a new part of the state.
Officials Monitor Farm
Hirschboeck's farm came under scrutiny by the DNR after it was discovered that he bought deer from another Walworth County deer farm that is suspected to have sold a deer to a third farm in Portage County that later tested positive for the disease. That buck, sold to deer farmer Stan Hall, tested positive for the disease in September.
The buck was the first of two captive deer in Wisconsin to have tested positive. So far, 40 wild deer from a 411-square-mile region of Dane, Iowa and Sauk counties have been found with the disease.
The first finding in captive deer last month prompted the state agriculture department to quarantine the two farms in Walworth County and a third farm in Portage County. A fourth game farm in Dane County has been quarantined, as well.
On Oct. 16, it was learned that a deer on the Hirschboeck farm also tested positive after state investigators found deer there appearing to be in poor health.
As the DNR began investigating Hirschboeck's business dealings, they recently learned that some of his deer had escaped. Brooks said the DNR believes the deer that tested positive on his farm was there long enough to have intermingled with the escaped deer.
"This is extremely significant because it confirms our fears that CWD might not be as easily contained as we initially had hoped," Brooks said.
Source Uncertain
Wisconsin officials are not sure how the disease showed up in Wisconsin, but one theory points to the possibility of an infected game farm. Game farms routinely moved deer in and out of the state until the agriculture department effectively banned such shipments in March.
When the presence of chronic wasting disease was reported Feb. 28, it was the first time deer with chronic wasting disease - captive or wild - had been found east of the Mississippi River.
The finding has thrust deer hunting in Wisconsin into tumult as hunters wonder how widely the disease has spread and whether venison is safe to eat. One effect: License sales are down about 23% from the same time last year.
The DNR has said it believed the disease is contained in and around the 411-square-mile region, where it wants to kill as many as 25,000 deer this hunting season.
Experts also have indicated that venison should be safe to eat, and as recently as last week, Dennis Maki, an infectious disease expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said finding the abnormal protein that is believed to cause the disease in meat was remote.
The World Health Organization advises people not to eat any part of a deer suspected of having the disease or the brain, eyes, spleen, tonsils, lymph nodes or spinal cord of any deer.
As part of its investigation, the DNR said that Hirschboeck:
* Asked Hall to alter his deer farm records twice in the past four weeks. * Tried to convince another game farm operator, Michael E. Bischel of Helenville in Jefferson County, to subvert the quarantine. Bischel told the DNR that Hirschboeck suggested that he buy a large buck from Hirschboeck, kill it, bind its front and back hooves, and then saw off its antlers so wardens would not recognize it.
Hirschboeck denied both allegations and said he has cooperated fully with the DNR and the agriculture department.
* Sold six does to Bischel in January but did not provide any receipts. Hirschboeck said he sold deer to Bischel but was never paid. Bischel could not be reached for comment. * Was not registered to operate a game farm in 2001 and faces forfeitures totaling $1,033. * Was issued five citations totaling $1,002.50 for feeding wild game and failing to cleaning up the feed after being ordered to do so.
=====================
436 deer have escaped from farms to wild; State finds violations, lax record keeping at many sites, report says
March 19, 2003 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Wisconsin) by Lee Bergquist lbergquist@journalsentinel.com
A state inspection of private deer farms, prompted by the discovery of chronic wasting disease, found that 436 white-tailed deer escaped into the wild, officials said Tuesday. The Department of Natural Resources found that captive deer have escaped from one-third of the state's 550 deer farms over the lifetime of the operations. The agency also uncovered hundreds of violations and has sought a total of 60 citations or charges against deer farm operators.
These and other findings come as state officials say they are still no closer to understanding how the fatal deer disease got to Wisconsin.
Since the discovery a little more than a year ago, chronic wasting disease has thrown both deer hunting and management of Wisconsin's 1.4 million deer herd into tumult. Fewer hunters went into the woods last year, and a booming deer population has the DNR worried that the number of whitetails could grow out of control.
Tuesday's findings were presented to the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. The DNR had regulated deer farms, but the authority was transferred to the Agriculture Department on Jan. 1. Now agriculture regulators oversee elk, deer and other captive cervids.
Stricter regulations -- and closer attention to the operations of game farms -- should cut down on future violations, officials from the two agencies said. Tougher reporting requirements also will help authorities keep better track of the movement of animals, they said.
Permanent rules take effect in June, and include tighter controls on moving animals and requiring the reporting of escaped animals within 48 hours. There will be mandatory testing of every deer age 16 months or older that dies.
Almost from the start of the state's battle against chronic wasting disease, game farm operators came under scrutiny because their business involves the buying and selling of captive deer and elk across state lines. When the disease was first discovered here Feb. 28, 2002, Wisconsin became the first state to have the disease east of the Mississippi River.
A representative of the deer industry said Tuesday that the DNR is trying to shift blame for chronic wasting disease to his industry.
"The state of Wisconsin has spent a year chasing chronic wasting disease, and they have made zero progress," said Gary Nelson, president of Whitetails of Wisconsin. "In the past, they have essentially collected our fees and ignored us. Now that they have discovered CWD, they are looking for someone to blame."
A DNR representative agreed that the agency could have done a better job keeping tabs on deer farms.
"We're not pointing fingers," said Karl Brooks, a conservation warden with the DNR. "But two things that we know for sure is that there is CWD in the wild deer population, and we have found CWD on game farms."
CWD found on 2 farms
Seven deer have tested positive for the disease on game farms -- one on a Portage County farm and six on a Walworth County farm -- since the disease was discovered in three wild deer killed near Mount Horeb in western Dane County. One deer that tested positive on the Walworth County farm escaped and roamed free for six months.
Regulations have only begun to catch up to the captive deer industry, and "unfortunately, it took CWD to get us there," said agriculture secretary Rod Nilsestuen at a news briefing in Madison.
As the DNR prepared to hand over authority for overseeing game farms to the agriculture department, it sent 209 conservation wardens to 550 farms to collect information, attempt to pinpoint the source of the disease and to learn whether other deer had been exposed to it.
The audit found that most farms were in compliance, but the DNR found many violations and instances of poor record keeping. Also in numerous instances, fences did not stop wild and captive deer from intermingling.
At least 227 farms conducted part of their business on a cash basis, making it hard to track animal movement with financial records.
For example, both the Internal Revenue Service and the state Department of Revenue have been contacted about a deer farm near Wild Rose in Waushara County that is suspected of selling six large bucks for $45,000 in cash and not using live deer shipping tags as required.
The DNR found that game farm operators have more deer in captivity than their records show, which is "due in part because the owners of a number of large deer farm operations were unable to accurately count the number of deer within their fences," the audit found.
Hundreds of deer escape
The DNR found a total of 671 deer that escaped farms -- 436 of which were never found -- because of storm-damaged fences, gates being left open or the animals jumping over or through fences.
In one example in Kewaunee County, a deer farmer's fence was knocked down in a summer storm. Ten deer escaped, and the farmer told the DNR he had no intention of trying to reclaim them. The DNR found five of the deer, killed them and cited the farmer for violation of a regulation related to fencing.
Another deer farmer near Mishicot, in Manitowoc County, released all nine of his whitetails last summer after he believed the discovery of chronic wasting disease was going to drive down the market for captive deer.
The DNR found 24 instances of unlicensed deer farms and issued 19 citations.
===============end...tss===============
Sperber 03-05-2003 1 197 remaining depoped
Wisconsin : Diseased Elk Found in Manitowoc County
Date: March 25, 2003 Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Contacts: Dennis Chaptman dchaptman@journalsentinel.com
Game-farm animal is first ill non-deer discovered here
Madison - Chronic wasting disease has been found in a farm-raised elk in Manitowoc County, marking the first time in Wisconsin that the ailment has been found in an animal other than a deer, state officials said Tuesday.
A 6-year-old female elk, one of 20 imported by Valders elk farmer Eugene Sperber from Stearns County, Minn., tested positive for the the fatal brain disease after dying in a fight with another elk.
Sperber's herd was quarantined by state agriculture officials in September, when state animal health officials discovered that it may have been exposed to the disease, which has been found in the state's white-tailed deer population.
The Minnesota Board of Animal Health reported in August that an elk from an Aitkin County farm in northern Minnesota tested positive for the disease. That animal had also spent time on two other farms, including the one in Stearns County.
That prompted Wisconsin officials to track other animals from those farms that may have entered Wisconsin game farms. They found 32 animals on six farms, and all were quarantined, including those on Sperber's farm.
Sperber, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, imported the 20 elk in December 2000 and January 2001.
One of the imported elk died earlier and was not tested for the disease, and all of the remaining 18 imported elk were killed for testing Friday, before the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, reported Monday that one elk tested positive for the disease.
Test results on the other animals are pending, said Donna Gilson, a spokeswoman for the state agriculture department.
The fate of Stearns' other 180 elk, which did not come from Minnesota but are under quarantine, has not been decided.
"We're concerned for the deer and elk industry, and for this particular farmer," Gilson said. "It's a really tough situation to be in after a year that's been difficult for deer and elk farmers in general. It's been hard for them economically and emotionally."
First in the region
Tuesday's news marked the first time that chronic wasting disease has been discovered in the northeastern part of the state. A total of 80 diseased deer have been found in Dane, Iowa, Sauk and Richland counties; and seven infected deer were discovered on game farms in Walworth and Portage counties.
Sarah Shapiro Hurley, a Department of Natural Resources veterinarian, said wildlife officials are monitoring the situation in Manitowoc County closely, but don't believe it poses a threat to the deer population there.
"Free-ranging and captive animals do have areas of interface, but we don't have any reason to believe that we have anything going on in the wild herd that is connected with that situation in the captive herd," she said.
DNR and state agriculture officials will continue to evaluate the case and monitor information from Manitowoc County, Hurley added. There were no immediate plans to shoot and test any more wild deer in response to the latest finding, she said.
"We took a very adequate sample in Manitowoc County this fall," she said, referring to the more than 200 samples - none of them showing infection - taken during the annual hunt.
Game farms under scrutiny
Wisconsin imposed emergency restrictions on moving animals to and from game farms in April 2002 to curb the spread of the disease. Chronic wasting disease attacks the brains of the animals, causing them to become emaciated, act abnormally and eventually die.
Dan Gunderson, spokesman for the Wisconsin Commercial Elk and Deer Farmers Association, said the discovery is a difficult one for the Sperbers.
"This is not only a financial loss, but it's almost like losing part of your family, and the loss is taken personally," said Gunderson, in a telephone interview after he visited the farm.
Gunderson said the discovery also shows that farmers, working in tandem with state agriculture officials, have established an effective monitoring plan.
"It's a bad-news, good-news story," he said. "All of their elk, even though they didn't all come from Minnesota, are quarantined until 2006. It's a business tragedy, but the good news is the system under which the department of agriculture is regulating it works."
Gilson said agency officials were not surprised that the disease turned up in a farm-raised elk here, especially considering the animal's history in Minnesota.
"It's been primarily a disease of elk out west and, in the wild, in mule deer, but on farms it's been an elk disease there," she said. "We weren't as surprised as we were disappointed."
Gunderson said the finding means that farmers need to be watchful and keep working with state officials.
Gilson added that animal health investigators now will attempt to trace the movements of elk from the Valders farm to other locations, she added.
"The DNR found chronic wasting disease because it went looking for it," she said.
==============================end...tss==========================
Hetzel 10-03-2003 1 2 remaining depoped
Wisconsin : Whitetail On Sauk County Farm Tests Positive For CWD
Date: October 21, 2003 Source: Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
Contacts: Donna Gilson 608-224-5130
MADISON -- A whitetail deer from a Sauk County farm has tested positive for chronic wasting disease, State Veterinarian Dr. Robert Ehlenfeldt said today.
The 2-year-old buck, owned by William Hetzel, Hillpoint in Bear Creek Township, died of digestive problems Oct. 1 and was tested routinely as the law requires. The National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, reported Monday, Oct. 20, that the test was positive.
The buck was one of only four deer on the farm. The others are a doe and her two fawns. The farm has been quarantined, which prohibits any live animals from being moved off the property. The herd is enrolled in the CWD monitoring program.
Agriculture officials are checking herd records to find out where the infected animal originated.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection's policy is to kill and test herds where CWD is found, as well as herds where infected animals originated. There is no approved CWD test for live animals.
This is the 10th farm-raised animal in Wisconsin to test positive for CWD and the fourth farm where the disease has been found. One of the infected animals was an elk; the rest have been whitetail deer. Currently 13 herds are under quarantine: four connected with on-farm CWD cases in Portage and Walworth counties; two that received animals from a herd in Minnesota later found to be infected; and seven that are within the Department of Natural Resources CWD eradication zone.
=====================end...tss=======================
Breber 05-01-2004 1 15 remaining depoped
Wisconsin : CWD-Positive Deer Found on Racine County Farm
Date: May 25, 2004 Source: Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection
Contacts: Donna Gilson 608-224-5130
MADISON -- A whitetail deer that died on a Racine County farm has tested positive for chronic wasting disease, State Veterinarian Dr. Robert Ehlenfeldt announced today.
The National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, reported the test results Friday, May 21. According to the farm's records on file with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, the doe was 9 years old. She had died of natural causes and a sample for CWD testing was collected May 1. Department rules require that all farm-raised deer and elk 16 months or older must be tested when they die, go to slaughter or are killed.
The deer was owned by Colin Breber, of Raymond, and was one of a small herd of about 10 whitetails. The herd is enrolled in the state's CWD monitoring program.
Breber's farm was quarantined Saturday, May 22, because the remaining animals have been exposed to CWD. The quarantine stops movement of live deer off the farm. Department staff are tracing movements of deer onto and from the farm, to find the source of the CWD-positive deer as well as other herds that may have been exposed.
Department policy calls for destroying herds in which CWD has been found, as well as source herds where CWD positive animals originated.
In all, 15 herds in Wisconsin are under quarantines related to CWD. Only two of those herds actually have had animals test positive. The rest are herds that may have been exposed to CWD, either because of contact with infected animals or because they are within the Department of Natural Resources disease eradication zone.
To date, 16 farm-raised animals in Wisconsin have tested positive for CWD on five farms. One of the infected animals was an elk; the rest have been whitetail deer.
==============end...tss========================
Kuhnke 07-28-2004 3 1 in July, 1 in Aug, 1 of 23 at depop
Wisconsin : CWD-Infected Herd Destroyed On Walworth County Farm
Date: November 04, 2004 Source: Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
Contacts: Contact: Donna Gilson 608-224-5130
MADISON -- A Walworth County herd of farm-raised deer and elk was destroyed Wednesday, Nov. 3, because it was infected with chronic wasting disease.
The herd of 12 white-tailed deer and 9 elk owned by Wayne Kuhnke, Delavan, was killed by gunshot by wildlife specialists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services. They worked under contract with the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, which regulates farm-raised deer in Wisconsin.
The Kuhnke herd had been under quarantine since September 2002 because Wisconsin animal health officials linked it to animals in two CWD-infected herds. Recently two animals from the Kuhnke herd also tested positive for CWD.
Brain stem samples were removed from each animal and shipped to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, for testing. Test results are expected within three weeks. Carcasses were sent to the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory for chemical digestion.
Kuhnke will be required to burn or bury all feed, bedding, manure and wooden feed troughs used by the deer. He also must clean all organic material from metal, concrete or plastic items that came in contact with the animals. DATCP staff will then disinfect those articles with a strong chlorine bleach solution. In areas of heavy animal traffic, the owner will need to scrape off and bury 2 inches of topsoil and replace it.
Kuhnke may not re-introduce farm-raised deer or elk to the property for five years. He may use the property for other species.
Kuhnke will receive federal and state indemnity payments for the animals. The indemnity amounts have not been determined yet. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will pay disposal costs.
To date, 19 CWD-positive animals have been found on six Wisconsin farms. All have been white-tailed deer except for one elk imported from a Minnesota herd later found to be infected. More than 8,000 farm-raised deer and elk have been tested in Wisconsin, and about 540 herds are enrolled in the CWD monitoring program.
Currently 17 herds are under quarantine because there has been at least one CWD-positive animal found in them, because they are linked to infected herds, or because they are inside the Department of Natural Resources CWD eradication zones.
===================end...tss=================
Christensen 01-07-2005 2 1 in 2007, owner killed and buried remaining 33
Wisconsin : CWD-Positive Whitetail Found On Crawford County Farm
Date: January 26, 2005 Source: Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
Contacts: Donna Gilson 608-224-5130
MADISON -- A white-tailed deer that died on a Crawford County farm has tested positive for chronic wasting disease, State Veterinarian Dr. Robert Ehlenfeldt announced today.
The National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, reported the test results Friday, Jan. 21. The 19-month-old buck died from respiratory causes, according to the laboratory report, and was sampled for CWD testing Jan. 12. Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection rules require that all farm-raised deer and elk 16 months or older must be tested when they die, go to slaughter or are killed.
The deer was owned by Curtis Christenson, Eastman, and was one of a herd of about 40 animals. The herd is enrolled in the state’s CWD monitoring program.
Christenson’s herd was quarantined Jan. 21, because the remaining animals have been exposed to CWD. The quarantine stops movement of live deer off the farm. Department staff are tracing movements of deer onto and from the farm, to find out if other herds may have been exposed.
In an unrelated case, Ehlenfeldt announced he has quarantined a deer herd owned by Don Schnell, Rosholt. The Portage County deer herd was quarantined because a deer sold from it to an Almond hunting preserve tested positive after being shot on the preserve. No other animals on Schnell's farm have tested positive.
In all, 20 herds in Wisconsin are under quarantines related to CWD. Ten of those herds are related to on-farm CWD cases. The rest are herds that may have been exposed to CWD, because they are within the Department of Natural Resources disease eradication zone.
To date, 28 farm-raised animals in Wisconsin have tested positive for CWD on seven farms, out of more than 10,000 tested. One of the infected animals was an elk; the rest have been white-tailed deer.
================end...tss===================
Landwer 09-22-2008 2 1 of 66 at depop
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Robert Landwer, Owner, and Kathy Landwer, Agent (R10-06) – Request to Amend the Portage County Zoning Ordinance by Changing the Zoning Classification of an Area Approximately 8.59 Acres From A4, General Agricultural Zoning District to C4, Highway Commercial Zoning District – Part of Parcel #016-25-0718-06.01 – Town of Eau Pleine.
Piesik read the public hearing notice. Lucht provided a report stating the requested change is to locate a wood chipping and asphalt grinding facility. The Land Conservation Division (LCD) and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will be working with the site on stormwater issues.
The site is on the location of a former deer farm. Approximately one year ago, the deer tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD) and had to be destroyed. Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) ordered the fence surrounding the property to remain for five years in order to keep wild deer, elk, and other animals out of the area to prevent the spreading of CWD. The site will be accessed by a new driveway built through the wooded portion of the site; a gate will be opened and closed as the site is accessed. Petitioner states there will be approximately 8-10 trucks per day traveling on and off the site during the peak season. Portage County Planning and Zoning Department staff recommends approval of the request.
====================end...tss==========================
Hookstead 10-01-2008 1 2 remaining depoped
Buck at Jefferson County preserve had chronic wasting disease e-mail print By Lee Bergquist of the Journal Sentinel Dec. 19, 2008 |(0) Comments
A 7-year-old buck from a Jefferson County hunting preserve has tested positive for chronic wasting disease, state agriculture officials reported Friday.
The white-tailed deer was killed Dec. 1 as part of an effort by the owner of the 53-acre preserve to cull his herd and repopulate it with new stock, said Donna Gilson, a spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Two deer remain on the preserve and will be killed. They have been quarantined by State Veterinarian Robert Ehlenfeldt.
Gilson said the agriculture department will trace any possible movement of deer from the preserve to other captive facilities.
The hunting preserve, Maple Hill Whitetails, is owned by Steve Hookstead of Helenville. According to the preserve's Web site, the business offers hunts, and breeding and genetics services. Hookstead was unavailable for comment.
Hookstead's breeding herd will not be killed because the deer are separated from the hunting preserve by a fence, Gilson said.
Chronic wasting disease was discovered in wild deer in Wisconsin in 2002. Since then, 98 deer and one elk have tested positive from nine captive facilities. More than 22,500 farm-raised deer and elk have been tested.
Chronic wasting disease is always fatal and affects deer, elk and moose.
The disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, a class of diseases that includes mad cow disease in cattle, scrapie in sheep and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.
According to the World Health Organization, any tissue that may have come from deer with CWD should not be eaten, but there is no evidence the disease can be transmitted to humans.
NOW, if you look at the map that shows these game farms in relations to surround CWD infection rate in the wild, you will see the close proximity from one to the other i.e. CWD infected game farms, to CWD infection in the wild.
please see map here, and you will see that this phenominum is NOT only unique to Wisconsin, but with most all other game farms in other states. see map here ;
MORE INFORMATION ON FARMED DEER IN WISCONSIN ;
Information for Farm-Raised Deer Keepers in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Administrative Rules for Farm-Raised Deer Keepers (see sections 10.45 to 10.58)
General Requirements
General Requirements Summary Brochure (2 page PDF)
New Farm-Raised Deer Keeper Application (4 page PDF)
CWD Sampling Reimbursement (1 page Word doc)
General Fencing Requirements
Herds With White-tailed Deer (see section 90.21)
Herds With No White-tailed Deer (see section 90.20)
Premises Within 5 Miles of Multiple CWD Positive
CWD Herd Status Program
CWD Herd Status Program Summary Brochure (2 page PDF)
CWD Herd Status Program Application Packet (5 page PDF)
Census Documents (for CWD Herd Status Program)
Census Instructions (1 page Word doc)
Inventory Census Form (3 page PDF)
Purchased Additions (1 page PDF)
Live Subtractions (1 page PDF)
Deaths (1 page PDF)
Newborn Summary (1 page PDF)
Request for Electronic Census Form (1 page Word doc)
Hunting Preserves
Hunting Preserves in Wisconsin Summary Brochure (2 page PDF)
Hunting Preserve Certificate Application (2 page PDF)
Moving Requirements
In-State Movement Requirements (1 page Word doc)
In-State Shipping Permit (2 page Word doc)
Importing Into Wisconsin
Exporting to Other States
Useful Information
To Purchase a CD List of Registered Farm-Raised Deer Keepers
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources - Wild deer testing positive for CWD
United States Geological Survey - Chronic Wasting Disease in North America
Laboratories that are certified by the United States Department of Agriculture
Deer Keeper Organizations
Whitetails of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Commercial Deer and Elk Farmer’s Association
Reindeer Owners and Breeders Association
North American Elk Breeder Association
For more information or to sign up for updates contact:
Dr. Richard Bourie, Program Manager
(608) 224-4886
Richard.Bourie@wisconsin.gov
Karen Torvell, Program Associate
(608) 224-4896
Karen.Torvell@wisconsin.gov
Useful Information To Purchase a CD List of Registered Farm-Raised Deer Keepers
How To Order
Ordering Documents over the Phone using a Credit Card
Call the Document Sales Office at (800) 362-7253 or (608) 266-3358 to place an order using Visa or MasterCard.
Additionally, the last day for APHIS funding for CWD testing of farmed cervids would be December 31, 2011. After that day, APHIS-approved laboratories and the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) would be using established user fees, and producers would be charged directly for routine CWD testing...
see full text letter here ;
Greetings Wisconsin Hunters outdoorsman/woman et al ,
I will quote something from another deer hunting forum in another state, that was well said ;
“Ironic that one can operate a game farm to pose such a threat to wildlife and not only avoid responsibility for mitigating the danger (maintaining fences) but also get the state to buy your failed business.”
kind regards,
terry
Chronic Wasting Disease in a Wisconsin White-Tailed Deer Farm
Delwyn P. Keane1⇓ Daniel J. Barr1 Philip N. Bochsler1 S. Mark Hall2 Thomas Gidlewski3 Katherine I. O'Rourke4 Terry R. Spraker5 Michael D. Samuel6 1University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Madison, WI 2The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, National Veterinary Services Laboratories, Pathobiology Laboratory, Ames, IA 3The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, Fort Collins, CO 4The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal Disease Research Unit, Pullman, WA 5The Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 6The U.S. Geological Survey, Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. ↵University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, 445 Easterday Lane, Madison, WI 53706. Delwyn.Keane@wvdl.wisc.edu Next Section
Abstract
In September 2002, chronic wasting disease (CWD), a prion disorder of captive and wild cervids, was diagnosed in a white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from a captive farm in Wisconsin. The facility was subsequently quarantined, and in January 2006 the remaining 76 deer were depopulated. Sixty animals (79%) were found to be positive by immunohistochemical staining for the abnormal prion protein (PrPCWD)in at least one tissue; the prevalence of positive staining was high even in young deer. Although none of the deer displayed clinical signs suggestive of CWD at depopulation, 49 deer had considerable accumulation of the abnormal prion in the medulla at the level of the obex. Extraneural accumulation of the abnormal protein was observed in 59 deer, with accumulation in the retropharyngeal lymph node in 58of 59 (98%), in the tonsil in 56 of 59 (95%), and in the rectal mucosal lymphoid tissue in 48 of 58 (83%). The retina was positive in 4 deer, all with marked accumulation of prion in the obex. One deer was considered positive for PrPCWD in the brain but not in the extraneural tissue, a novel observation in white-tailed deer. The infection rate in captive deer was 20-fold higher than in wild deer. Although weakly related to infection rates in extraneural tissues, prion genotype was strongly linked to progression of prion accumulation in the obex. Antemortem testing by biopsy of rectoanal mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue (or other peripheral lymphoid tissue) may be a useful adjunct to tonsil biopsy for surveillance in captive herds at risk for CWD infection.
Monday, January 16, 2012
9 GAME FARMS IN WISCONSIN TEST POSITIVE FOR CWD
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD WISCONSIN Almond Deer (Buckhorn Flats) Farm Update DECEMBER 2011
SNIP...SEE FULL TEXT ;
*** 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.
(PLEASE NOTE SOME OF THESE OLD UK GOVERNMENT FILE URLS ARE SLOW TO OPEN, AND SOMETIMES YOU MAY HAVE TO CLICK ON MULTIPLE TIMES, PLEASE BE PATIENT, ANY PROBLEMS PLEASE WRITE ME PRIVATELY, AND I WILL TRY AND FIX OR SEND YOU OLD PDF FILE...TSS)
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Wisconsin Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, CWD, TSE, PRION REPORTING 2011
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Depopulation Plan Being Developed for Captive Deer Facility in Macon County after second CWD positive confirmation
Monday, November 14, 2011 WYOMING Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, CWD, TSE, PRION REPORTING 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
COLORADO CWD CJD TSE PRION REPORTING 2011
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
CWD NEBRASKA NGPC 26 DEER CARCASSES TESTED POSITIVE BUFFALO, CUSTER AND HOLT COUNTIES DURING NOVEMBER HUNT
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
CWD UTAH San Juan deer hunting unit
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Aerosols An underestimated vehicle for transmission of prion diseases?
PRION www.landesbioscience.com please see more on Aerosols and TSE prion disease here ;. ...
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
BSE IN GOATS CAN BE MISTAKEN FOR SCRAPIE
February 1, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The Risk of Prion Zoonoses
Science 27 January 2012: Vol. 335 no. 6067 pp. 411-413 DOI: 10.1126/science.1218167
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Facilitated Cross-Species Transmission of Prions in Extraneural Tissue
Science 27 January 2012:
Vol. 335 no. 6067 pp. 472-475 DOI: 10.1126/science.1215659
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Chronic Wasting Disease CWD cervids interspecies transmission
SEE FULL TEXT ;
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Environmental Sources of Scrapie Prions
Monday, January 05, 2009
CWD, GAME FARMS, BAITING, AND POLITICS
Thursday, August 28, 2008
cwd, feeding, and baiting piles
UPDATED DATA ON 2ND CWD STRAIN
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
CWD PRION CONGRESS SEPTEMBER 8-11 2010
Monday, February 14, 2011
THE ROLE OF PREDATION IN DISEASE CONTROL: A COMPARISON OF SELECTIVE AND NONSELECTIVE REMOVAL ON PRION DISEASE DYNAMICS IN DEER
NO, NO, NOT NO, BUT HELL NO !
Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 47(1), 2011, pp. 78-93 © Wildlife Disease Association 2011
more concern here ;
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Human Prion Disease and Relative Risk Associated with Chronic Wasting Disease
Fri, 22 Sep 2006 09:05:59 –0500
Monday, June 27, 2011
Zoonotic Potential of CWD: Experimental Transmissions to Non-Human Primates
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
CWD PRION CONGRESS SEPTEMBER 8-11 2010
PRION 2010
International Prion Congress: From agent to disease September 8–11, 2010 Salzburg, Austria
SNIP...
PPo4-4:
Survival and Limited Spread of TSE Infectivity after Burial
Karen Fernie, Allister Smith and Robert A. Somerville The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS; University of Edinburgh; Roslin, Scotland UK
Scrapie and chronic wasting disease probably spread via environmental routes, and there are also concerns about BSE infection remaining in the environment after carcass burial or waste 3disposal. In two demonstration experiments we are determining survival and migration of TSE infectivity when buried for up to five years, as an uncontained point source or within bovine heads. Firstly boluses of TSE infected mouse brain were buried in lysimeters containing either sandy or clay soil. Migration from the boluses is being assessed from soil cores taken over time. With the exception of a very small amount of infectivity found 25 cm from the bolus in sandy soil after 12 months, no other infectivity has been detected up to three years. Secondly, ten bovine heads were spiked with TSE infected mouse brain and buried in the two soil types. Pairs of heads have been exhumed annually and assessed for infectivity within and around them. After one year and after two years, infectivity was detected in most intracranial samples and in some of the soil samples taken from immediately surrounding the heads. The infectivity assays for the samples in and around the heads exhumed at years three and four are underway. These data show that TSE infectivity can survive burial for long periods but migrates slowly. Risk assessments should take into account the likely long survival rate when infected material has been buried. The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from DEFRA
SEE MORE HERE ;
PRION 2011
Envt.16: Soil Properties as a Factor in CWD Spread in Western Canada
Alsu Kuznetsova,† Tariq Siddique and Judd Aiken
University of Alberta; Edmonton, AB Canada†Presenting author; Email: alsu@ualberta.ca
Soil can serve as a stable reservoir for infectious prion proteins (PrPSc). Soils are diverse and complex, varying in clay, silt, sand and organic components. We have shown that PrPSc binds clay minerals avidly, an interaction that considerably enhances prion infectivity. Conversely quartz sand bound PrPSc less avidly. These studies would suggest that soils with lower clay and higher sand content bind prions less avidly and do not enhance infectivity to the same level as clay-rich soils. We hypothesize that clay content of a soil plays an integral role in the spread of CWD. In this study, we present the soil properties in the western Canada. Soils of the CWD-region generally are similar in texture, clay mineralogy and soil organic matter content. In total these soils can be characterized as clay loamy, montmorillonite (smectite) with 6–10 % organic carbon. The major soils in the CWD-region are Chernozems, present in 60% of total area. These soils have a humic horizon in which organic matter has accumulated (1–17% organic C). Solonetzic soils are also common to Alberta and Saskatchewan. We suggest that the greatest risk of CWD spread in western Canada is restricted to clay loamy, montmorillonite soils with humus horizon. Such soils are predominant in the southern region of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, but are less common in northern regions of the provinces.
Envt.28: High Survival Rates of TSE Infectivity Buried in Two Soil Types Allister J. Smith The Roslin Insitute; Roslin, UK Email: allister.smith@roslin.ed.ac.uk Two field experiments nearing completion are investigating the migration and/or persistence of TSE infectivity in the soil environment, either buried within bovine heads or buried without containment. In the first experiment five pairs of bovine heads, spiked with mouse-passaged BSE (301V) macerate, were buried within lysimeters containing either clay or sandy soil. A pair of unspiked bovine heads was also buried to act as controls. Pairs of heads have been exhumed annually during which a corer is used to take soil samples above, surrounding and below the head. Any brain material within the head is recovered during dissection. The soil samples have undergone protein extraction, and the extracts along with the brain material have been assayed for infectivity by bioassay in VM mice. Bioassay results from the first experiment show that for all four years most of the intracranial brain samples have been positive for TSE infectivity in both the clay and sandy soil. There is little change in the survival curves between years 1 and 4 indicating little reduction in the amounts of infectivity over time. There has been very limited infectivity found in samples surrounding the heads buried in the sandy soil, but infectivity has been found in the soil samples surrounding the clay heads and the levels increase slightly from years one to four, presumably as the heads have decomposed. In a parallel experiment a bolus of infectivity (301V) was placed in the centre of two large lysimeters, containing either clay or sandy soil. Over the course of four years, core samples have been taken at eight time points, on the vertical and at 3 distances from the centre. These samples have been assayed for infectivity and to date only one sample from the sandy soil has produced pathological evidence of TSE disease in one mouse. In order to ascertain whether any of the bolus remained at the end of the experiment, we collected a much larger central core (d = 16 cm) and extracted samples for bioassay, concentrating on the core portions that correlated to the original bolus location. The samples from these core portions caused disease in a high proportion of mice (bioassay still in progress), with apparently higher infectivity levels in the clay soil, so far. This result indicates that there has been very little migration of TSE infectivity without containment in either clay or sandy soil and that there has been little reduction in titre with time.
Envt.29: Time-Dependent Decline in PrPTSE Desorption from Soil Particles Christen B. Smith,1,† Clarissa J. Booth,2 Kartik Kumar2 and Joel A. Pedersen1–3 1Environmental Chemistry and Technology Program; 2Molecular and Environmental Toxicology Center; 3Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin; Madison, WI USA †Presenting author, Email: cmbell@wisc.edu Environmental routes of transmission are implicated in epizootics of sheep scrapie and chronic wasting disease in deer, elk, and moose. Strong evidence suggests that soil may serve as an environmental reservoir of prions, which can persist in the environment for years. The disease-associated form of the prion protein (PrPTSE) readily attaches to soil particle surfaces. Prior studies reported reduced PrPTSE recovery from experimentally spiked soils after longer contact times, which in some cases has been interpreted as degradation of PrPTSE. Here, we investigate PrPTSE desorption from sterilized and untreated soil particles as a function of protein-soil contact time. Soil particles were sterilized by autoclaving or g-irradiation. Desorption of PrPTSE from whole soils, montmorillonite clay, and quartz sand was analyzed by immunoblotting following 1-, 7-, and 14-day contact times. We found that PrPTSE recovery from both sterile and untreated soil samples declined significantly with contact time suggesting the strengthening of protein-particle interactions over time. Recovery of PrPTSE from whole soils declined to a larger extent than did that from montmorillonite and quartz sand possibly reflecting the contribution of particle-associated natural organic matter to the mechanisms of PrPTSE attachment. The influence of PrPTSE-soil particle attachment on oral disease transmission warrants investigation.
www.landesbioscience.com PRION
Friday, February 20, 2009
Both Sides of the Fence: A Strategic Review of Chronic Wasting Disease
ALSO, NOTE MINERAL LICKS A POSSIBLE SOURCE AND TRANSMISSION MODE FOR CWD
2009 CWD SYMPOSIUM UTAH
Detection of Protease-Resistant Prion Protein in Water from a CWD-Endemic Area
65
Detection of Protease-Resistant Prion Protein in Water from a CWD-Endemic Area
Tracy A. Nichols*1,2, Bruce Pulford1, Christy Wyckoff1,2, Crystal Meyerett1, Brady Michel1, Kevin Gertig3, Jean E. Jewell4, Glenn C. Telling5 and M.D. Zabel1 1Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA 2National Wildlife Research Center, Wildlife Services, United States Department of Agriculture, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80521, USA 3Fort Collins Water and Treatment Operations, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80521, USA 4 Department of Veterinary Sciences, Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 82070, USA 5Department of Microbiology, Immunology, Molecular Genetics and Neurology, Sanders Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40536, USA * Corresponding author- tracy.a.nichols@aphis.usda.gov
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is the only known transmissible spongiform encephalopathy affecting free-ranging wildlife. Experimental and epidemiological data indicate that CWD can be transmitted horizontally and via blood and saliva, although the exact mode of natural transmission remains unknown. Substantial evidence suggests that prions can persist in the environment, implicating it as a potential prion reservoir and transmission vehicle. CWD- positive animals can contribute to environmental prion load via biological materials including saliva, blood, urine and feces, shedding several times their body weight in possibly infectious excreta in their lifetime, as well as through decomposing carcasses. Sensitivity limitations of conventional assays hamper evaluation of environmental prion loads in water. Here we show the ability of serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification (sPMCA) to amplify minute amounts of CWD prions in spiked water samples at a 1:1 x106 , and protease-resistant prions in environmental and municipal-processing water samples from a CWD endemic area. Detection of CWD prions correlated with increased total organic carbon in water runoff from melting winter snowpack. These data suggest prolonged persistence and accumulation of prions in the environment that may promote CWD transmission.
snip...
The data presented here demonstrate that sPMCA can detect low levels of PrPCWD in the environment, corroborate previous biological and experimental data suggesting long term persistence of prions in the environment2,3 and imply that PrPCWD accumulation over time may contribute to transmission of CWD in areas where it has been endemic for decades. This work demonstrates the utility of sPMCA to evaluate other environmental water sources for PrPCWD, including smaller bodies of water such as vernal pools and wallows, where large numbers of cervids congregate and into which prions from infected animals may be shed and concentrated to infectious levels. snip...end...full text at ;
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
CWD to tighten taxidermy rules Hunters need to understand regulations
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD WISCONSIN Almond Deer (Buckhorn Flats) Farm Update DECEMBER 2011
Form 1100-001
(R 2/11)
NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD AGENDA ITEM
SUBJECT: Inf01mation Item: Almond Deer Fatm Update
FOR: DECEIVIBER 2011 BOARD MEETING
SNIP...
These laboratory results show that 60 of the 76 animals tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The 76 deer constituted the breeding herd on Hall’s farm. He also operated a hunting preserve on the property until 2005. Four deer, two does and two fawns, the only deer remaining in the former preserve, were killed and tested as well. CWD was not detected in those animals. The total number of deer to test positive from this farm from the initial discovery to final depopulation is 82. The CWD infection rate was nearly 80%, the highest ever in a North American captive herd.
SNIP...
Despite the five year premise plan and site decontamination, The WI DNR has concerns over the bioavailability of infectious prions at this site to wild white-tail deer should these fences be removed. Current research indicates that prions can persist in soil for a minimum of 3 years. However, Georgsson et al. (2006) concluded that prions that produced scrapie disease in sheep remained bioavailable and infectious for at least 16 years in natural Icelandic environments, most likely in contaminated soil. Additionally, the authors reported that from 1978-2004, scrapie recurred on 33 sheep farms, of which 9 recurrences occurred 14-21 years after initial culling and subsequent restocking efforts; these findings further emphasize the effect of environmental contamination on sustaining TSE infectivity and that long-term persistence of prions in soils may be substantially greater than previously thought. Evidence of environmental transmission also was documented in a Colorado research facility where mule deer became infected with CWD in two of three paddocks where infected deer carcasses had decomposed on site 1.8 years earlier, and in one of three paddocks where infected deer had last resided 2.2 years earlier (Miller et al. 2004).
SNIP...
FULL TEXT AND MORE HERE ;
with 9 infected game farms documented to date in Wisconsin, with one of them having the highest infection rate ever in the world i.e. 80%, I think it’s time for all of these game farms to be shut down. just my opinion. ...TSS
Comment from Terry Singeltary Document ID: APHIS-2011-0032-0002Document
Type: Public Submission This is comment on Notice: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program Docket ID: APHIS-2011-0032RIN:
Topics: No Topics associated with this document View Document: Show Details
Document Subtype: Public Comment Status: Posted Received Date: January 24 2012, at 12:00 AM Eastern Standard Time Date Posted: January 25 2012, at 12:00 AM Eastern Standard Time Comment Start Date: January 24 2012, at 12:00 AM Eastern Standard Time Comment Due Date: March 26 2012, at 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time Tracking Number: 80fa2c68 First Name: Terry Middle Name: S. Last Name: Singeltary City: Bacliff Country: United States State or Province: TX Organization Name: LAYPERSON Submitter's Representative: CJD TSE PRION VICTIMS
Name: Terry S. Singeltary
Address:
Bacliff, TX,
Submitter's Representative: CJD TSE PRION VICTIMS
Organization: LAYPERSON
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General Comment
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program (Document ID APHIS-2011-0032-0001)
I believe that any voluntary program for CWD free herd certification from game farms will be futile, as was the partial and voluntary mad cow feed ban of August 4, 1997. That failed terribly, with some 10,000,000 of banned blood laced MBM being fed out in 2007, a decade post August 4, 1997 partial and voluntary ban.
Game farms are a petri dish for CWD TSE Prion disease, with Wisconsin having documented 9 CWD infected game farms, with one having the highest CWD infection rate in the world, 80% CWD infection rate.
I believe that all game farms should be SHUT DOWN PERMANENTLY.
CWD TSE prion disease survives ashing to 600 degrees celsius, that’s around 1112 degrees farenheit.
you cannot cook the CWD 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 CWD TSE Prion agent will survive in the environment for years, if not decades.
you can bury it and it will not go away.
CWD 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.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD WISCONSIN Almond Deer (Buckhorn Flats) Farm Update DECEMBER 2011
full submission here ;
Friday, February 25, 2011
Soil clay content underlies prion infection odds
Monday, August 8, 2011
Susceptibility of Domestic Cats to CWD Infection
Oral.29: Susceptibility of Domestic Cats to CWD Infection
see also ;
Enzymatic Digestion of Chronic Wasting Disease Prions Bound to Soil
CWD TSE prion disease survives ashing to 600 degrees celsius, that’s around 1112 degrees farenheit.
Prion Infected Meat-and-Bone Meal Is Still Infectious after Biodiesel Production
Detection of protease-resistant cervid prion protein in water from a CWD-endemic area
see this and more here ;
layperson
Terry S. Singeltary Sr. P.O. Box 42 Bacliff, Texas USA 77518 flounder9@verizon.net
Friday, February 03, 2012
Wisconsin Farm-Raised Deer Farms and CWD there from 2012 report Singeltary et al
http://www.prpsc.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=prpsccwd&action=display&thread=2


http://www.prpsc.proboards.com/index.cgi



TSS



Sent: Friday, February 03, 2012 4:27 PM
Subject: I am in receipt of your email.
Thank you for your email. Due to the volume of emails I receive, it is not always possible to respond immediately. I will try to reply within 24 hours.
If you have an urgent matter or are contacting me to schedule an appointment, please call my State Capitol office at 800-382-9467, ext. 2-9847.
Sincerely,
Karen Tallian
Indiana State Senator
District 4
200 W. Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2785
(800) 382-9467
www.in.gov/S4


Sent: Friday, February 03, 2012 4:27 PM
Subject: Thank you for contacting me via email.
Thank you for contacting me via e-mail. Due to the extremely large volume of e-mail my office receives daily, I have begun sending this automatic response. Rest assured that your concerns matter to me. I personally read all e-mail and letters I receive from my district.
If you have requested publication information or assistance with a state agency, your request will be handled in a timely manner.
If you have included comments about specific legislation, I will carefully consider your views as legislation is debated and considered for final passage on matters that concern my district.
Sincerely,
Dick Dodge
State Representative


Sent: Friday, February 03, 2012 4:27 PM
Subject: Thank you for contacting me.
Thank you for contacting me by e-mail. Due to the extremely large volume of e-mail my office receives daily, we have begun sending an automatic response. However, I want to assure you, your concerns matter to me. I personally read all e-mail and letters I receive from our district and I will certainly keep your comments in mind as legislation is introduced on matters that concern our district and state. If you need further assistance, please contact my assistant, Jana Cullom, at 1-800-382-9841.
Again, thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with me.
Sincerely,
Sean Eberhart
State Representative



Sent: Friday, February 03, 2012 4:27 PM
Subject: Thank you for contacting me.
STATE OF INDIANA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mike KarickhoffSTATE REPRESENTATIVE
2504 Greentree Lane, Kokomo, Indiana 46902
State House: 1-800-382-9841 Cell: (765) 860-7160
Fax: (317) 232-7644 E-mail: H30@in.gov
Greetings,
Thank you for participating in the legislative process by voicing your thoughts and concerns via email. Please understand that because I read all emails, it may take a few days to receive a personal response.
As legislation is introduced your opinions will have an impact on my vote. Listening to the feedback from our district helps me understand what matters most to you.
Should you have a request or issue relating to any state agency, my staff will review and handle your case without delay.
Thank you again for contacting me.
Sincerely,
Mike Karickhoff



Sent: Friday, February 03, 2012 4:27 PM
Subject: Thank you for contacting me.
Thank you for contacting me by e-mail. Due to the extremely large
volume of e-mail my office receives daily, we have begun
sending an automatic response. However, I want to assure you, your
concerns matter to me. I read all e-mail I receive from our district
and I will certainly keep your comments in mind as Legislation is
introduced on matters that concern our district and state.
Again, thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with me.
Sincerely,
Bob Heaton
State Representative
Long kills controversial fenced hunting bill


February 1, 2012 | Filed under: Issues,Top stories | Posted by: Lesley Weidenbener


By Lesley Weidenbener




The Statehouse File





INDIANAPOLIS – An effort to legalize fenced deer hunting is dead for this session.

Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said he will use a procedural move to kill House Bill 1265 and won’t allow it to be considered in the Senate in the 2012 session.

“I think it is a terrible bill,” Long said. “It’s something that first of all it’s not real hunting. It fences in these animals.”

Fenced deer preserves allow hunters to pay money – sometimes thousands of dollars – to shoot deer that are sometimes bred to have larger antlers. Proponents say the preserves are large enough to give the deer plenty of opportunity to escape but critics say they violate the fair chase doctrine that dictates ethical hunting.

In 2006, the Department of Natural Resources passed rules – signed by Gov. Mitch Daniels – that made the preserves illegal. But a lawsuit essentially stopped the enforcement. The suit is still pending and four preserves are operating.

HB 1265 – approved 56-40 by the House this week – would have legalized the preserves and created a licensing process for new businesses.

The bill’s author, Rep. Matt Ubelhor, R-Linton, said the preserves and the farms that provide them with deer already have a $50 million annual economic impact on the state. Ubelhor says that could increase if more preserves are permitted to operate.

But Long said Wednesday he prefers to maintain the status quo.

“The bill as it currently exists would open it wide open,” Long said. “I thought we had an understanding (in the General Assembly) that we weren’t going down that path again.”

Lesley Weidenbener is managing editor of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.






http://thestatehousefile.com/long-kills-controversial-fenced-hunting-bill/2937/









Move to expand Ind. fenced deer hunting shelved


1:38 PM, Feb. 2, 2012







INDIANAPOLIS (WTW) — An attempt to legalize hunting deer and elk that are kept inside high fences has been shelved by the state Senate's leader.

The House voted 56-40 this week to approve a bill allowing the fenced hunting, but Senate President Pro Tem David Long said he thought it was a "terrible idea" and will use a procedural move to kill the proposal for this year's legislative session.

The bill would have legalized four existing shooting preserves that are now operating under an injunction issued in a lawsuit against state Department of Natural Resources rules adopted in 2006 to ban captive hunting. The bill also would have allowed more similar preserves to operate.



Long, R-Fort Wayne, said Wednesday that he believed legislators reached a tacit agreement several years ago not to intercede.

"It's not real hunting," he said. "It fences in these animals. Almost every real hunter that I talk to says it's a terrible idea and they don't support it."

Supporters say legalizing the fenced hunting preserves would be an economic boon and would provide Indiana's 400 deer farms with a place to sell their animals.

Rick Miller, president of the Indiana Deer and Elk Farmers Association, told The Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne (http://bit.ly/z2oSiH) that deer farmers are now selling their deer out of state, but he expects that chronic wasting disease, which is fatal to deer and elk, will eventually hit Indiana and force an end to such sales. He said Indiana's existing preserves wouldn't be enough to keep the farms in business.

"They're killing us," Miller said of the Senate action. "We are begging lawmakers to help us put it to bed one way or another."

Eleven states have full bans on captive hunting and 15 states have partial prohibitions. States surrounding Indiana do not have a ban, and shooting preserves and deer farming have boomed there.

Bill sponsor Rep. Matt Ubelhor, R-Bloomfield, said Indiana's existing preserves are large — akin to 80 city blocks — and allow deer the opportunity to elude hunters.

"It's certainly fair chase," Ubelhor said.

___



Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.




http://www.indystar.com/usatoday/article/38486835?odyssey=mod







Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said he will use a procedural move to kill House Bill 1265 and won’t allow it to be considered in the Senate in the 2012 session.


“I think it is a terrible bill,” Long said. “It’s something that first of all it’s not real hunting. It fences in these animals.”





BRILLIANT MOVE BY Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, even though he is a Republican ;) I could not agree more. ...tss





With CWD spreading, and CJD rising in the USA and Canada, with rise in pcsCJD i.e. pending classification sporadic CJD i.e. they don’t know what or where in the world this strain came from, and refuse to investigate further, ignoring updated science that not only has CWD mutated into a second strain i.e. Wisconsin Strain of CWD, and the fact that many scientist around the globe are very concerned for the potential of CWD being a zoonosis disease. Also ignoring recent updated science that shows a link between atypical BSE and atypical Scrapie with sporadic CJD. All this moved me to dig a bit deeper into these game farms that raise deer and or elk to enhance their natural size and antler spread and circumference i.e. farmed ‘straw’ bred bucks. in my opinion, there is no ethics in hunter farmed 'straw' bred bucks. I wanted to find out just how dangerous these game farms are to the wild, considering for the captives, most are nothing more than a petri dish for disease i.e. CWD.


What I found was interested, and concerning. the close proximity from cwd infected game farm to cwd infected game farm, and the CWD infection in the wild surrounding those said game farms.
I wrote the Wisconsin DNR and division of animal health asking ;


‘‘Could you please tell me where I can locate the information on each CWD infected game farm in Wisconsin (all nine to date), dates they became infected, infection rate, etc. ???’’


They were very kind in replying and supplied the following information ;


Friday, February 03, 2012


Wisconsin Farm-Raised Deer Farms and CWD there from 2012 report Singeltary et al

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.....-farms-and.html






From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr.

Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 2:06 PM

To: h57@in.gov

Cc: h51@in.gov; h75@in.gov; h53@in.gov; h46@in.gov; h30@in.gov; h54@in.gov; h62@in.gov; h69@in.gov; h64@in.gov; h17@in.gov; h42@in.gov; h56@in.gov


Subject: re-Indiana game farming cervids and CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE THERE FROM



From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr.

Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 1:56 PM

To: info@indianawildlife.org

Cc: dnrwebmaster@dnr.IN.gov; s1@iga.in.gov; s4@iga.in.gov; h57@in.gov; simpson@indianawildlife.org; twardy@indianawildlife.org; watson@indianawildlife.org


Subject: Re: re-Indiana game farming cervids and CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE THERE FROM House Bill 1265






snip...see full text ;






http://www.prpsc.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=prpsccwd&action=display&thread=2



TSS

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