Excerpts Courtesy of Colorado Division of Wildlife. What Is It?
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological disease found in deer and elk. It belongs to a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies or prion diseases. The disease attacks the brains of infected deer and elk, causing the animals to become emaciated, display abnormal behavior, lose bodily functions and die. Besides being found in wild deer and elk, the disease has been found in captive deer and elk in six states and two Canadian provinces.
Public Health Issues Epidemiologists with the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and epidemiologists at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment have studied chronic wasting disease and found no link between it and any neurological disease that affects humans.
Health officials, however, advise hunters not to consume meat from animals known to be infected with the disease. In addition, they suggest that hunters take simple precautions (as listed below) when field dressing deer or elk taken in areas where the disease is found.
Where Is The Disease Found?
Ongoing surveillance conducted by the Colorado Division of Wildlife indicates that chronic wasting disease (CWO) is found in wild deer and elk herds in northeastern Colorado and in wild mule deer in a portion of Routt County in the northwest part of the state. The disease has also been found in wild deer in parts of Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin, and it's been found in captive deer and elk in six states and two Canadian provinces.
Since 1996, the Division, in cooperation with the University of Wyoming and Colorado State University, has examined more than 2,000 animals from throughout Colorado, including each of the large mule deer herds on the Western Slope. With the exception of the Routt County outbreak, none have been infected with CWD.
In addition to this statewide sampling, the Division also has examined more than 10,000 deer and elk harvested or culled in northeastern Colorado. Estimated infection rates in deer harvested from this area in 2000 ranged from less than one percent to 11 percent. In northeastern Colorado, chronic Wasting disease is found in 18 game n1anagernent units. These units cover approximately 10,000 square miles, about 10 percent of Colorado's entire land mass. Infection rates in the endemic area vary between location, herds and species.
Chronic wasting disease is far less prevalent in elk than deer. Less than 1 percent of elk in the endemic area have been found to be infected. Infection rates in deer herds vary from less than one percent to 13 percent.
- Meat that is cut and wrapped (either commercially or privately.
- Quarters or other portions of meat with no part of the spinal column or head attached.
- Meat that has been boned out.
- Hides with no heads attached.
- Clean (no meat or tissue attached) skull plates with antlers attached.
- Antlers with no meat or tissue attached.
- Upper canine teeth, also known as "buglers," "whistlers," or "ivories."
- Finished heads prepared by taxidermists.
Simple Precautions Advised
Public health officials advise hunters to take the following precautions when pursuing or handling deer and elk in infected units:
- Do not shoot, handle or consume any animal that appears sick.
- Contact the Division of Wildlife in Fort Collins at (970) 472-4300 if you see or harvest an animal that appears sick.
- Wear rubber gloves when field dressing carcasses.
- Bone out the meat from your animal.
- Minimize the handling of brain and spinal tissues.
- Wash hands and instruments thoroughly after field dressing is completed.
- Avoid consuming brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils and lymph nodes of harvested animals. (Normal field dressing coupled with boning out a carcass will remove most, if not all, of these body parts. Cutting away all fatty tissue will remove remaining lymph nodes.)
- Avoid consuming the meat from any animal that tests positive for the disease.
- Require that your meat be processed separately without meat from other animals being included.
Rodney says, “Public health officials advise hunters to take the following precautions when pursuing or handling deer and elk in infected units: Do not shoot, handle or consume any animal that appears sick. "
|
