The Grand Rapids Press Monday August 25, 2008, 6:1

[POINTY STICKS]

From the BSE Digest this morning:
Wasting disease shows up in Kent County deer

by Howard Meyerson | The Grand Rapids Press Monday August 25, 2008, 6:16 PM

A whitetail deer born and culled from a Kent County deer farm has chronic wasting disease, state wildlife officials announced Monday. It is the first time the fatal neurological disease has turned up in Michigan. It's presence is triggering big changes for hunters and deer farm owners.

"It's triggering bait and feeding restrictions for whitetail deer in all of the Lower Peninsula, and carcass handling restrictions in the hot zone," said Becky Humphries, the Department of Natural Resources director.

Hunters who kill deer this fall from Tyrone, Solon, Nelson, Sparta, Algoma, Courtland, Alpine, Plainfield and Cannon townships will be required to bring their deer to DNR check stations. Other hunters will be strongly encouraged to do so.

To date, there is no indication that any wild, free-ranging deer has the disease. The 3-year-old female doe with CWD is the first reported case in Michigan.

Deer farms all over the state also are being quarantined. There are 580 in total, including breeding farms, hobby and exhibition facilities, and ranches where the deer are hunted.

In West Michigan, there are six farms of concern, the Kent County facility where the sick deer was found and five others in Osceola and Montcalm counties, which did business with the other farm.

Don Koivisto, the director for the Michigan Department of Agriculture, said five facilities were quarantined over the weekend. Their records are being examined to trace the sale and transfer of deer. The facilities' names were withheld pending further investigation.

Note: another game farm operation earlier this year was found to have brought porcine pseudorabies into the state...which had been free of that disease for a number of years. The same farm has 18 elk presently being tested for CWD

[POINTY STICKS]

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 of deer 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.