From: ProMED-mail.org <promedmail.org>
Date: 16 Jan 2001
Source: Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Press Release [edited]
<http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us>
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
2200 N. 33rd Street
Lincoln, NE 68503
Website: <http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us>
Contact: Tom Keith
Chronic wasting disease confirmed in wild deer in Nebraska panhandle
------------------------------------------------
LINCOLN - The presence of chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been confirmed
for the first time in the wild in Nebraska.
Tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) veterinary lab in Ames, Iowa, showed the
disease was present in a mule deer harvested in southwestern Kimball County
during the November Firearm Deer Season. Additional testing will be
completed next week, but it isn't likely to overturn the preliminary tests.
The hunter was one of more than 750 individuals who voluntarily submitted
the brain stems of the deer or elk they harvested to the Nebraska Game and
Parks Commission for testing since 1997. No previous sample had tested
positive.
CWD had previously been confirmed in 4 captive elk in the state during
the past 4 years. Last week, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and
APHIS ordered a captive herd in northern Cheyenne County be destroyed after
a third case of the disease was confirmed there. The first case on that
ranch appeared in 1999. The latest appeared in an offspring of an elk that
tested positive for CWD last spring. All animals from that herd are being
tested at the Colorado State University veterinary lab. The only other
positive test in Nebraska came from a captive elk in Cherry County.
A progressive, fatal disease of the nervous system of cervids such as mule
deer, white-tailed deer and elk, CWD was first identified in the late 1960s
in captive deer and elk research herds in Colorado and Wyoming. It has
since been found in wild deer and elk in northeastern Colorado and
southeastern Wyoming and in captive deer or elk herds in 5 western
states and Saskatchewan. The positive Nebraska test is the first time the
disease has been found in wild animals beyond Colorado and Wyoming.
CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy and is similar to diseases
that occur in cattle, sheep, cats and mink.
Because occurrence of the disease is low, it is difficult to identify in
the wild. There is no test for live animals and it may take up to 18 months
for infected animals to exhibit clinical signs of the disease.
Animals infected with CWD display changes in behavior and progressive loss
of body condition. Symptoms include weight loss, incessant drinking and
urination. An infected animal often stands listlessly, head down and ears
drooping, with saliva dripping from its mouth. The disease is always fatal.
CWD's cause and mode of transmission are unknown. Researchers believe CWD
can be spread from animal to animal by body secretions. It also can be
spread between wild animals or between wild and captive animals through
simple nose-to-nose contact.
According to experts and public health officials, there is no evidence that
CWD can be transmitted to humans or to animals other than deer and elk. As
a general precaution, however, it is a good idea for people to avoid
contact with any wild animal that appears sick. Additionally, it is always
recommended that hunters wear rubber gloves while dressing and handling
wild game carcasses. Experts also recommend hunters do not eat or handle
the brain or spinal cord of any deer or elk.
It is recommended that meat animals that test positive be destroyed and not
consumed by humans or pets. This is consistent with the Nebraska Department
of Agriculture's policy for captive elk or deer that test positive for CWD.
Although current evidence suggests CWD does not transmit to humans or
cattle, it may be many years before this can be confirmed.
The Game and Parks Commission is currently working with other agencies,
including the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and APHIS, the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the Wyoming
Game and Fish Department to determine the extent of CWD in the wild and
take steps to attempt to control its spread.
As part of its ongoing monitoring project, the Commission collected brain
samples of deer harvested near Kimball, Sidney, Scottsbluff and Bridgeport
this fall. Testing that began in 1997 has focused on the area between the
North and South Platte rivers. This was considered the route through which
CWD would most likely spread into Nebraska.
The Commission will expand its monitoring project this year to include
increased surveillance of deer in the wild.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The prior identification of CWD in Nebraska was in a captive herd of elk
at a ranch in north central Nebraska in 1998. This case was identified as
part of the CWD surveillance program established in Nebraska in 1997. CWD
has been identified in free ranging deer and elk in a limited geographical
area in Colorado and Wyoming but this is the first time in Nebraska.
Background on CWD can be found at
<http://www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/pubs/fscwd.html> (this document is current as
of the end of 1999) - Mod.MPP]
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