Category Archives: National News

CWD UPDATE 81 November 14, 2006

USDA-APHIS-Veterinary Services has published a request for comments on the three petitions received from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the U. S. Animal Health Association, and the National Assembly of State Animal Health Officials protesting portions of their rule on the interstate transportation of captive cervids and the federal herd-monitoring program. The notice was in the Federal Register of November 3, 2006 and can be accessed here. It is very important that all interested parties review this notice and submit comments. The two main issues are the preemption of state authority and allowing movement across state lines after only one year of monitoring, gradually increasing to 5 years.

An elk killed recently in the Shirley Mountains northwest of Medicine Bow, Wyoming has tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The hunter-killed elk comes from Hunt Area 16 where CWD had been detected in deer previously, although this is the first elk from that hunt unit to test positive. Elk in two other elk hunt areas immediately to the east and south of Hunt Area 16 have tested positive for the disease in past years. The Colorado Division of Wildlife reports finding two additional positive moose. The two bull moose were harvested legally in northern Colorado near Glendevey recently. One of the moose was from the same herd that the first positive moose was from. This brings the total wild moose positive for CWD to 3 out of 528 tested in Colorado.

Results for CWD testing in South Dakota from July 1 to November 13, 2006 have been reported by South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks. The samples tested and results are; 444 elk sampled–438 results returned as NOT Positive–4 results pending (2 POSITIVE ELK FOUND), 111 mule deer sampled–26 results returned as NOT Positive–85 results pending, 402 white-tailed deer–44 results returned as NOT Positive– 358 results pending The two positive elk were both female and hunter harvested. Both were from Custer County, one being taken in Custer State Park. To date, South Dakota has found 49 cases of CWD (32 deer and 17 elk) in free ranging deer and elk since testing began in 1997. Wind Cave National Park accounts for 16 of these animals (8 elk, 8 deer). A total of 13,262 wild deer and elk have been tested for CWD since 1997.

Wisconsin DNR reports on results to date for this years testing. During the fall hunting season (still in progress), they have collected 5,429 samples and received results from 3,456 of these. There were 6 positive in this number, 4 from the disease eradication zone and 2 from the herd reduction zone. This brings their totals to 105,594 animals sampled with 657 positive.

The New Mexico Game and Fish Department reports that they have detected CWD in one mule deer on the Stallion site of White Sands Missile Range. This location is approximately 100 miles north of the main infection area near the Missile Range headquarters and 75 miles north of the focus of infection in the southern Sacramento Mountains. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department reports that a white-tailed deer harvested in Hunt Area 9 near Newcastle has tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The disease had not previously been found in deer Hunt Area 9. The deer was harvested on a ranch southeast of Newcastle in early October. The location is approximately 18 miles from where the disease has been found in South Dakota in the same drainage.

OK, this is it, my very last and final CWD update. My last day of work is next Wednesday, November 22, 2006. I will be enjoying the mountains of northern New Mexico and trying my hand at fishing and hunting again. I have been blessed by my association with the brightest and best in our business and will miss the friendships and camaraderie from times past. Bryan Richards, CWD Project Leader for the National Wildlife Health Lab in Madison, Wisconsin has agreed to take over the responsibility of issuing these updates. Lets all help Bryan out by providing him with information on what is going on in your neck of the woods as concerns CWD so he can get the information out to others. Bryan’s email is brichards@usgs.gov. If you need to talk to Bryan, he can be reached at 608-270-2485. Thanks Bryan for taking on this job, and thanks to each and every one reading this for their help and friendship during these interesting years. I will plan on keeping in touch through the updates and will be doing a little consulting, so might see some of you at future meetings (if it doesn’t interfere with my hunting and fishing). Goodbye and God Bless.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2006–The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is soliciting comments on three petitions requesting that APHIS reconsider provisions and delay a recent final rule establishing a herd certification program and interstate movement restrictions for cervids to control the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD). The CWD herd certification program and interstate movement of farmed or captive deer, elk and moose final rule, published on July 21, originally had an effective date of Oct. 19. However, in early August, APHIS received petitions from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the National Assembly of State Animal Health Officials and the United States Animal Health Association asking for a delay and review. APHIS is taking this opportunity to solicit comments on the merits of these three petitions.

While the public is invited to comment on any of the issues raised by the petitions, APHIS is particularly interested in receiving comments related to the following areas:

• Consider the alternatives of implementing a federal interstate movement standard versus allowing individual state standards to apply? What hardships or benefits would each alternative impose?

• With respect to the spread of CWD, in addition to the requirements established by the APHIS CWD rule, what additional safeguards do states need to mitigate or reduce the risk of disease transmission and why are they needed?

• What practical or operational problems may be expected from the final rule and from the alternatives suggested by the petitions? How could they be alleviated; and

• Are there any alternatives that could address the petitioners’ concerns, other than allowing the movement requirements of individual states to take precedence over the federal standard?

The notice requesting comments on the petition is scheduled for publication in the Nov. 3 Federal Register.

Consideration will be give to comments received on or before Dec. 4. Send an original and three copies of postal or commercial delivery comments to Docket APHIS-2006-0118, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, Md. 20737-1238. If you wish to submit a comment using the Internet go to the

Federal eRulemaking portal, select “Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service” from the agency drop-down menu; then click on “Submit.” In the Docket ID column, select APHIS-2006-0118 to submit or view public comments and to view supporting and related materials available electronically.

Comments are posted on the Regulations.gov Web site and may also be reviewed at USDA, Room 1141, South Building, 14th St. and Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C., between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. To facilitate entry into the comment reading room, please call (202) 690-2817.

The final rule on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Herd Certification Program and Interstate Movement of Farmed or Captive Deer, Elk, and Moose was published in the Federal Register by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on July 21, 2006 (SCWDS BRIEFS, Vol. 22, No. 2).

The rule was the result of efforts that go back at least to 1998 when a model program for CWD surveillance, control, and eradication was presented to the United States Animal Health Association (USAHA). The final rule was to be implemented on October 19, 2006; however, on September 8, 2006, APHIS announced a delay in the effective date of the rule (Federal Register Vol. 71, No. 174, p. 52983). On November 3, 2006, APHIS announced that it was soliciting public comments on three petitions it had received concerning the final rule and will consider all comments it receives on or before December 4, 2006 (Federal Register, Vol. 71, No. 213, pp. 64650-64651).

The announcement on November 3, and accompanying press release from APHIS stated, “We recently received three petitions requesting a delay in the effective date of the CWD rule and reconsideration of several requirements of the rule. We are currently evaluating the merits of these petitions, and…are making the petitions available for public review and requesting comments on them.” The petitions are from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, National Assembly of State Animal Health Officials, and USAHA.

APHIS invites the public to comment on any of the issues raised by the petitions, but is particularly interested in receiving comments related to the following areas:

• Consider the alternatives of implementing a federal interstate movement standard versus allowing individual state standards to apply. What hardships or benefits would each alternative impose?
• With respect to the spread of CWD, in addition to the requirements established by the APHIS CWD rule, what additional safeguards do states need to mitigate or reduce the risk of disease transmission and why are they needed?
• What practical or operational problems may be expected from the final rule and from the alternatives suggested by the petitions? How could they be alleviated; and
• Are there any alternatives that could address the petitioners’ concerns, other than allowing the movement requirements of individual states to take precedence over the federal standard?

The petitions may be viewed and comments may be submitted electronically by going to www.regulations.gov, then select “Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service” from the agency drop-down menu, then click on “Submit.” In the Docket ID column, select APHIS-2006-0118 to submit or view public comments and to see supporting and related materials. Comments also may be reviewed at USDA, Room 1141, South Building, 14th St. and Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. To facilitate entry into the comment reading room, please call (202) 690-2817. Following evaluation of the comments, APHIS will announce the future direction of the federal CWD program. (Prepared by John Fischer)

Chronic wasting disease for the first time has been found in the heart muscle of white-tailed deer and elk, according to researchers in the University of Wyoming’s College of Agriculture.

The finding is important to wildlife managers, hunters and scientists because the cardiac muscle — which comprises meat — of big-game animals susceptible to CWD is consumed by humans.

Hunters, however, should not be alarmed, said Jean Jewell, a research scientist in the UW Department of Veterinary Sciences.

“There is a tendency for people to become alarmed when they hear something that makes them think their health might be at risk, but at this stage there is no evidence to suggest humans are susceptible to CWD,” Jewell said.

That does not mean hunters shouldn’t take precautions, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (G&F). They are advised not to kill or eat animals that appear sick, and it is recommended they wear long, disposable rubber or latex gloves when field dressing animals. This will help protect them from not only CWD but other diseases.

Meat should be removed from bones when butchering, according to G&F.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization recommend animals testing positive for CWD not be consumed, according to a two-page brochure on CWD recently published by the G&F.

The brochure is available at G&F district offices across Wyoming and includes regulations governing the disease in the state, where it has been found, management efforts and how hunters can protect themselves and help prevent the spread of the disease.

An electronic copy is available on the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory’s (WSVL) Web site at http://wyovet.uwyo.edu/Diseases_2006.asp. The Department of Veterinary Sciences manages the WSVL, where the research took place.

G&F wildlife disease specialist Hank Edwards said the highest concentration of CWD in Wyoming occurs in the southeast corner of the state. “That’s where we’ve historically found it and continue to find it. In the last two years, it was also discovered in the Kaycee, Worland, Thermopolis and Newcastle areas,” he said.

In areas where CWD is known to occur, Jewell noted, hunters are advised not to consume brain, spinal cord, lymph nodes or heart. She said thorough cooking kills many pathogens, but prions are not destroyed by cooking.

CWD is a chronic, fatal disease of mule and white-tailed deer, Rocky Mountain elk and moose. It belongs to the group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), which are thought to be caused by prions.

A prion is a microscopic protein particle lacking nucleic acid. It is thought to be the infectious agent responsible for CWD, the other animal TSEs (including scrapie in domestic sheep and bovine spongiform encephalopathy [BSE], also known as “mad cow” disease, in cattle), and other degenerative diseases of the nervous system. There is no evidence CWD is transmissible to livestock, Jewell said.

Jewell and UW research partner Jeremy Brown said their finding of abnormal prion proteins in the heart tissue of elk and white-tailed deer raises additional questions.

“This study has opened some interesting avenues for further research, such as delving further into the pathology of the disease and following it down through the nervous system,” Brown said. For instance, he asked, why was CWD detected in only the heart muscle and not other muscle tissues of the infected white-tailed deer and elk?

Why wasn’t the disease found in the heart muscle of CWD-infected mule deer?

Jewell and Brown detected seven CWD-positive heart samples from 16 captive and one free-ranging white-tailed deer infected with the disease. They also detected CWD in the heart muscle of 12 of 17 captive elk that were infected.

“This is the first report of disease-associated prion protein in the cardiac muscle tissue of ruminants infected with a TSE,” said Jewell, who carried on the research started in 2003 by the late Beth Williams, a professor in the Department of Veterinary Sciences, and Terry Kreeger, adjunct professor in the department and supervisor of the G&F’s Veterinary Services Branch.

“This had not been seen before in any of the animal prion diseases,” Jewell said. Previously, she said, CWD had been detected in the lymph nodes and nervous systems — including the brain and spinal cord – of white-tailed deer, mule deer and elk.

Jewell said other parts of infected deer can contain very small amounts of CWD prions that can only be detected by sensitive bioassays. Bioassay is the determination of the strength of a biological activity of a substance, such as a drug or hormone, by comparing its effects with those of a standard preparation on a test organism.

CWD has been diagnosed in wild deer and elk in 10 states, including Wyoming, and two Canadian provinces, said Cynthia Tate, G&F assistant wildlife veterinarian.

One of the most recent cases was detected by the WSVL Sept. 29 and involved an elk killed by a hunter in the Shirley Mountains northwest of Medicine Bow in southeastern Wyoming. Animals show no apparent signs of illness throughout much of the disease course. In terminal stages of CWD, animals typically are emaciated and display abnormal behavior.

Hunters taking animals in the CWD areas identified in the G&F regulations should consider submitting samples of deer, elk or moose to the WSVL or G&F for testing, Jewell said.

The WSVL fee is $25, and results are typically known within two weeks. The G&F does not charge for testing, but it will only test animals based on where they were harvested and what the current department needs are, Edwards said.

The Wyoming Wildlife/Livestock Disease Research Partnership and the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies contributed $100,000 to a number of CWD projects started by Williams, including the one just completed.

Helping with the project by Jewell and Brown were Paula Jaeger, Mercedes Thelen, Todd Cornish and Don Montgomery with the Department of Veterinary Sciences; Edwards and Kreeger with the G&F; and Michael Miller with the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

A report of these findings is being published in the November edition of Journal of General Virology. Authors are Jewell, Brown, Kreeger and the late Beth Williams.

FORT COLLINS – New Colorado State University-led research shows for the first time that chronic wasting disease may spread through saliva and blood of infected deer, which poses new possibilities that the disease may spread by blood-sucking insects or social contact between animals. The study also reinforces that no tissue from an infected animal can be considered free of prions, the disease-causing agent.

The study suggest that chronic wasting disease, called CWD, may spread by social contact such as grooming among deer in nature and environmental contact. The study, led by Edward A. Hoover, a Colorado State University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, also was spearheaded by Colorado State researcher Candace Mathiason.

The research, released in the Oct. 6 edition of the journal Science, tested the blood, saliva, feces and urine of deer infected with CWD to determine ways the disease may be transmitted from animal to animal, which has remained a mystery to scientists.

“This study shows for the first time that CWD can be passed to deer that come into contact with the blood and saliva of infected deer,” said Hoover.

“Although no instance of CWD transmission to humans has been detected, these results prompt caution regarding exposure to body fluids in prion infections such as CWD. This study also causes us to reconsider a potential role for blood-feeding insects such as mosquitoes and ticks in the transmission of CWD or other prion infections.”

While this 18-month study focused on deer, CWD also affects elk and moose.

“Interactions among deer and elk, especially in high density situations, intensifies cross-contact among animals. This contact includes salivary exchange, which provides potential for CWD transmission,” Hoover said. “Such things as grooming, licking and nuzzling are important in the social interactions of deer.”

CWD was first discovered in deer in northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming by Colorado State scientists in the 1960s. Related diseases belong to the family of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and include scrapie, which affects sheep, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Scrapie has existed in sheep populations for centuries.

Many mysteries continue to surround how TSEs spread from animal to animal or animal to human. CWD now has been detected in deer in 14 states and two Canadian provinces. CWD is contagious to a higher degree among deer, elk and moose than other TSEs.

Researchers biopsied tonsils to detect infectious CWD prions, showing that CWD infection could be detected as early as three months after exposure to saliva or blood from an infected deer – a surprising and important finding, Hoover said.

A seven-year, $8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease supported the research.

The study represented a collaboration between scientists from several agencies and universities. Additional researchers within the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences were Gary Mason, Sheila Hays, Jeanette Hayes-Klug and Davis Seelig, and Terry Spraker, a scientist at the Colorado State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Other collaborators were David Osborn, Karl Miller and Robert Warren from the University of Georgia; Sallies Dahmes of WASCO Inc.; Michael Miller and Lisa Wolfe at the Colorado Division of Wildlife; Jennifer Powers and Margaret Wild of the U. S. National Park Service; Glenn Telling at the University of Kentucky; and Christina Sigurdson at the University of Zurich.