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FeedFirst case of chronic wasting disease found in Pa. deer
Harrisburg -- The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture on Thursday (Oct. 11) confirmed the first positive case of chronic wasting disease in the state on a deer farm in Adams County. Agriculture Secretary George Greig and other officials held a press conference to discuss the disease in the Capitol Media Center.
The disease -- which is also known as CWD -- is fatal in deer, elk and moose, but there is no evidence that CWD can be transmitted to humans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The World Health Organization.
The positive sample was taken from a white-tailed deer at 1491 New Chester Rd., New Oxford, and tested as part of Pennsylvania’s intensive CWD monitoring efforts. The sample tissue was tested at the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory in Harrisburg and verified at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.
In addition to the Adams County location, the department has quarantined two farms directly associated with the positive deer at 6464 Jacks Hollow Rd., Williamsport, Lycoming County, and 61 Pickett Rd., Dover, York County. The quarantine prevents movement of animals on and off the premises.
“Pennsylvania has an aggressive Chronic Wasting Disease surveillance program and a strong response plan,” said Agriculture Secretary George Greig. “Steps are being taken to prevent further spread of this disease to the state’s captive and wild deer populations.”
An interagency CWD task force is in place to address the threat of the disease to Pennsylvania’s captive and wild deer, elk and moose populations. The task force includes representatives of the departments of Agriculture, Environmental Protection and Health, the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The task force will carry out the response plan, which includes education and outreach with public meetings and minimizing risk factors through continued surveillance, testing and management.
“To date CWD has not been found in Pennsylvania’s wild deer population,” said Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl Roe. ”Concerns over CWD should not prevent anyone from enjoying deer hunting and consuming meat from healthy animals.”
Roe said that hunters should shoot only healthy-appearing animals, and take precautions like wearing rubber gloves when field-dressing their deer and wash thoroughly when finished.
“Though no human disease has been associated with CWD, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people or other animals do not eat any part of an animal diagnosed with or showing signs of CWD,” said Acting Health Secretary Michael Wolf.
CWD attacks the brains of infected deer, elk and moose, producing small lesions that eventually result in death. It is transmitted by direct animal-to-animal contact through saliva, feces and urine.
Signs of the disease include weight loss, excessive salivation, increased drinking and urination, and abnormal behavior like stumbling, trembling and depression. Infected deer and elk may also allow unusually close approach by humans or natural predators. The disease is fatal and there is no known treatment or vaccine.
CWD was first discovered in Colorado captive mule deer in 1967, and has since been detected in 22 states and Canadian provinces, including Pennsylvania’s neighboring states of New York, West Virginia and Maryland. Pennsylvania is the 23rd state to find CWD in either a captive or wild population of deer and the 13th state to have it only in a captive deer herd.
Surveillance for CWD has been ongoing in Pennsylvania since 1998. The agriculture department coordinates a mandatory CWD monitoring program for more than 23,000 captive deer on 1,100 breeding farms, hobby farms and shooting preserves.
In addition, the Game Commission collects samples from hunter-harvested deer and elk and those that appear sick or behave abnormally. Since 1998, the commission has tested more than 38,000 free-ranging deer and elk for CWD and all have tested negative.
As usual(as ALWAYS), CWD is from a stinking deer farm!Yet the inept boobs of the PGC will continue to put restrictions on HUNTERS as if a single case of CWD can be traced back to hunters bringing in a skull from out of state. It is ridiculous. Deer farmers shouldn't exist. Period. If they are allowed to exist they should have to put up a CWD bond of $500,000 at least. But no, they have lobbyists so instead the PGC will continue to pick on hunters while turning a blind eye to the real culprits.
Tommiles - If you think that's bad, you should see what they're doing in Alabama! This year some yahoos in Alabama got the bright idea to release captive deer into the wild to try to "improve genetics." The worst part is there is no law against releasing captive deer in Alabama. Nothing good can come of this. Check it out if you want to...http://bigbuckproject.org/
QDMA is at the forefront to try to shut this project down, but at this point the only way to stop it is by order of the governor.
Guys listen, I have been raising livestock for over 40+ years and have imported cattle from 3 foreign countries. The safe guards that USDA has in place on livestock operations work ( including deer farms). With the USDA monitoring deer farms, I am confident they are doing a good job. I understand deer farms in Pa. are testing at 100%, when your wild deer at tested at less than 3% or less. Where do you think they are going to find it first? Kind of like a canary in the coal mine isn't it?
Also, in Minnesota we did have a positive trace-back of a CWD case from a carcasses brought back from the Rockies.
As a deer hunter, and a retired livestock farmer, I think that the release of captive deer to improve genetics would be a good thing. If you have studied genetics your whole life like I have, you will understand that genetic diversity is good for a species. Having new blood lines introduced to an inbred wild deer herd, will give the wild herd more strength.
Personally, I think QDMA has been a failure. We live in a food plot, with 100"s of thousands of acres of corn and soybeans around our farm. The wild herd is not improving because of food, it's because of genetics. You can't keep killing off the biggest bucks every year before rut and not let them breed. We need to reevaluate our hunting seasons.
Grandpa Farmer:
1) Despite the best tests we have to check for CWD, it is only detected 90% of the time. This means 10% of all positive CWD cases go undetected. Once CWD is introduced to an area, there is no way to get rid of it.
2) You have studied genetics in a setting where breeding was VERY controlled. In such a setting, you can manipulate the genetics. In a wild setting, the breeding is not controlled. Any male can mate with any female, and the biggest males DO NOT do all of the breeding. The antler growing genes from a male can be diluted by mating with females with poor antler growing genes.
3) You've got the "inbred" assumption completely wrong. Anywhere from 50-75% of all yearling bucks disperse several miles from where they were born. Inbreeding in a wild deer herd is not common. Further, dispersal will also would contribute to "good genetics" leaving your property.
4) It takes 3 things to grow big deer, nutrition, age, and genetics. Of the 3, genetics is the least significant component. Your herd has thousands of acres of good nutrition available and you're attributing success to genetics? That's malarky! To determine if genetics is the cause of the result you are seeing, you would need to do genetic testing. If genetic testing was not done, then there is no way you can make the claim that genetics was responsible for you seeing bigger deer.
5) For a buck to reach it's full antler growing potential it needs to reach about 5 years of age. During that time span, he has had PLENTY of opportunities to breed, and likely started breeding as a yearling. He will sire several generations by the time his antlers reach "shootable" levels. In the world of captive deer breeding, "shootable" deer are produced at younger ages. In such a scenario, a "shootable" deer only has 2-3 years to breed.
I will reiterate that NOTHING GOOD CAN COME OF THE BIG BUCK PROJECT IN ALABAMA.
QDMA is a joke.
Stanley L - Visit their website...you might actually learn something. www.qdma.com
"QDMA is a joke."
BIG plus 1!
Gotta love the hypocrisy though dont you? Support very low deer densities everywhere but on their little private acreages where the lands carrying capacities are often exceeded tenfold with 20 or 30 deer in one small field nightly, and the forest surrounding the bean & radish plot doesnt have a sapling smaller than your wrist. lol.
Sandman - You obviously haven't been to very many QDM managed properties.