Bad news for MI deer hunters

[EdB]

CWD has been found in our state in a captive deer herd. News releases below.

8/25/2008, 6:25 p.m. EDT

By TIM MARTIN

The Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's first case of chronic wasting disease was confirmed Monday in a white-tailed deer from a privately owned facility in the state's western Lower Peninsula.

Michigan officials have quarantined all privately owned cervid facilities and banned the movement of all privately owned deer, elk and moose.

There is no evidence that the disease exists in free-ranging, wild deer in Michigan. But as a precaution, the state will increase its testing of wild herds and place restrictions on hunters in some areas.

"This will trigger a number of actions," said Rebecca Humphries, director of the state's Department of Natural Resources.

Officials say they don't yet know how the deer, found in a Kent County facility, may have gotten the disease. Michigan has been testing for chronic wasting disease for several years, a process heightened when it was detected in Wisconsin in 2002.

The fatal neurological disease causes animals to display abnormal behavior and progressively lose weight. It's been found in other states, mostly in the West, although it also has been detected in West Virginia and New York.

There is no evidence that people have ever caught chronic wasting disease from infected animals.

The state's natural resources and agriculture departments are reviewing records from the Kent County facility and five others — including operations in Montcalm and Osceola counties — to trace deer and elk that have been bought, sold or moved in the last several years. Any deer that may have come in contact with a herd that has tested positive for chronic wasting disease has been traced and quarantined.

Officials would not identify the Kent County facility involved. But they said it was a facility used mostly for deer breeding.

The DNR soon will issue an order restricting baiting and feeding of deer in the Lower Peninsula.

Deer hunters this fall who kill deer from Kent County's Tyrone, Solon, Nelson, Sparta, Algoma, Courtland, Alpine, Plainfield and Cannon townships will be required to bring their deer to a DNR check station.

Other hunters in Kent County, and perhaps elsewhere in the state, will be asked to visit DNR check stations so further biological samples can be taken from free-ranging deer.

The deer that tested positive was a doe that had been culled from the herd by the Kent County facility's owner. Michigan law requires that sick deer in a private facility be tested for disease.

The facility was audited in 2004 and 2007. There were no violations reported in those audits. No escapes of animals have been reported from the facility.

DNR officials said they have tested nearly 250 wild deer in Kent County for chronic wasting disease since 2002.

In the summer of 2005, some deer in the area showed neurological symptoms similar to chronic wasting disease. But testing revealed the animals had Eastern equine encephalitis, not chronic wasting disease.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Aug. 26, 2008

Contact: Mary Dettloff 517-335-3014

DNR Acts to Implement CWD Surveillance and Response Plan

In the wake of Monday’s announcement that Chronic Wasting Disease

(CWD) has been confirmed in a three-year old privately-owned

white-tailed deer in Kent County, the Michigan Department of Natural

Resources is acting immediately to implement provisions of the state’s

Surveillance and Response Plan for CWD.

Among the provisions is an immediate ban on all baiting and feeding ofdeer and elk in the Lower Peninsula. DNR conservation officers will step

up surveillance and enforcement efforts on baiting. Baiting and feeding

unnaturally congregate deer into close contact, thus increasing the

transmission of contagious diseases such as CWD and bovine tuberculosis.

Bait and feed sites increase the likelihood that those areas will

become contaminated with the feces of infected animals, making them a

source of CWD infection for years to come.

Additionally, the provisions include a mandatory deer check for hunters

who take a deer within Tyrone, Solon, Nelson, Sparta, Algoma, Courtland,

Alpine, Plainfield, and Cannon townships, which contain the surveillance

area or "hot zone." All hunters who take a deer during any deer

hunting season this fall within the "hot zone" will be required to

visit a DNR deer check station so that their deer can be tested for CWD.

The DNR currently is seeking locations for additional deer check

stations in the area to make it more convenient for hunters. To prevent

unintentional spread of CWD, the only parts of deer harvested in the

surveillance zone that will be allowed to be transported out will be

boned meat, capes, and antlers cleaned of all soft tissues.

In addition, all transport of live wild deer, elk and moose will be

prohibited statewide, including transport for rehabilitation purposes.

Currently, there is no live animal test for CWD, and infected animals

often show no signs of illness for years in spite of being infectious

for other animals. Movement for rehabilitation purposes may speed

geographic spread of the disease.

The DNR will act immediately to test an additional 300 deer within the

"hot zone" in Kent County. The DNR will be cooperating with local

officials to collect fresh road-killed deer, and will be urging deer

hunters participating in the early antlerless season on private land in

September to comply with the mandatory deer check.

Landowners in Kent County "hot zone" who would like to obtain

disease control permits to cull deer from their property and assist with

the collection of deer for testing should contact the DNR’s Wildlife

Disease Lab at 517-336-5030. Permits will be available immediately upon

request. Landowners who do not want to cull deer, but want to

participate in the collection of deer for testing, can obtain assistance

from the DNR in culling deer.

DNR officials reminded citizens that, to date, there is no evidence

that CWD poses a risk to humans, nor has there been verified evidence

that the disease can be transmitted to humans.

CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose.

Most cases of the disease have been in western states, but in the past

several years, it has spread to Midwestern and eastern states. Infected

animals display abnormal behaviors, loss of bodily functions and a

progressive weight loss. Current evidence suggests that the disease is

transmitted through infectious, self-multiplying proteins (prions).

Prions are normal cell proteins whose shape has been transformed,

causing CWD. The disease is transmitted by exposure to saliva of

infected animals. Susceptible animals can also acquire CWD by eating

feces from an infected animal, or soil contaminated by them. Once

contaminated, soil can remain a source of infection for many years,

making CWD a particularly difficult disease to manage.

More information about CWD is available on the State of Michigan’s

Emerging Diseases Web site at www.michigan.gov/chronicwastingdisease.

The DNR is committed to the conservation, protection, use and enjoyment

of the state’s natural resources for current and future generations.

###

[GLF]

There was a story on the 11pm news last night about that, but I fell asleep around 10pm.

[NO MO BEGGEN]

first thing that comes to my mind is where did the deer come from. was it a native michigan deer or was it shipped into the state for breeding purposes. i would think the dnr would find this out before they cause an uprise in things

[EdB]

One of the scary things about CWD is that a deer can carry it for up to 5 years before it shows any signs of the disease. I'm sure the DNR is going to investigate and try to trace the history of the affected deer. I wonder how complete all private game farms records of animal sales and transfers are going back 5 years? Could some records be gone of deer transfers 3-5 yrs back? Could there be other farm deer around the state who may be carrying this with no signs of the disease. Thank God that this was found inside an enclosed farm. Still, who knows if these farm deer ever had any nose to nose contact with wild deer at fences? Fences are not bio-hazard proof.

They should be shutting down every big game and deer farm in the state. Everyone knew the deer farm industry was the most likely vehicle for transmission of this disease to Michigan and now sure enough it has happened. If this does get into our wild deer herd, deer hunting in MI will never be the same.

[GLF]

The state also issued a restriction for hunters, prohibiting any baiting or feeding of wild deer,elk and moose, to prevent the disease from spreading.

I "heard" this is for all areas below the bridge.

[EdB]

Yes, I put the DNR press release (on baiting etc) on the bottom of the orginal post above.

Among the provisions is an immediate ban on all baiting and feeding ofdeer and elk in the Lower Peninsula.

[GLF]

Yes, I put the DNR press release (on baiting etc) on the bottom of the orginal post above.

Sorry Ed!

Guess I should have slowed down and read it instead of skimming through it. I have a lot going on outside the web right now. Hopefully after this week, things will be back to normal for me.

[Reel_Screamer]

first thing that comes to my mind is where did the deer come from. was it a native michigan deer or was it shipped into the state for breeding purposes. i would think the dnr would find this out before they cause an uprise in things

Exactly!!!!