Veterinary pathologists at the Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory are up to their ears in elk and deer samples. Since hunting season began Sept. 1, around 2,500 samples have been sent to the diagnostic laboratory to be tested for chronic wasting disease, a fatal deer and elk brain ailment Read more
Late 1960s Deer begin dying in captivity from a mysterious wasting illness at Foothills Wildlife Research Facility in Fort Collins, Colo. Later, some of the deer are returned to the wild. 1977 Colorado State University graduate student Elizabeth Williams is the first person to identify the deer ailment as a Read more
CRAIG – Orange banners reading “Welcome Hunters” outnumber the few political placards in this small town in northwestern Colorado. Camouflage- and orange-clad hunters from Pennsylvania to California line up to buy licenses in sporting goods stores and to have their game processed in meat shops where some employees work 14-hour Read more
Hunters who want their elk or deer heads tested for chronic wasting disease needn’t be intimidated by the unfamiliar procedure. Essentially, peace of mind is as simple as filling out a form, tossing a deer or elk head into a barrel and waiting a week or two for results. Outside Read more
State officials have launched their first-ever testing program to determine whether Indiana’s deer herd is infected with chronic wasting disease, a “mad cow”-related illness spreading through the Midwest. Officials from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said at least 1,100 deer killed by hunters around the state this fall will Read more
Bob Shull, director of Wisconsin’s new veterinary diagnostic lab in Madison, said Wednesday workers were set to dive with both feet into the state’s chronic wasting disease surveillance activities. “Our people are 100 percent fully trained and ready to do validation work,” Shull said. The state-of-the-art facility was funded by Read more
FORT COLLINS – The first load of elk brains and lymph node tissue to be tested for chronic wasting disease has landed at the diagnostic laboratory at Colorado State University. “We received 300 samples last night and 400 this morning,” Barb Powers, the veterinary lab’s director said Wednesday. “We have Read more
Research conducted by USDA-ARS on the genetics of CWD infected white-tailed deer from Nebraska indicate that genetics does not have anything to do with the susceptibility of white-tail deer. The genetic makeup of 114 infected and non-infected animals were classified at Pullman, Washington. Results indicate that there are 6 major Read more
More than 150 veterinarians at 98 clinics have agreed to collect brain stem samples for Chronic Wasting Disease testing from deer harvested during this fall’s firearms season. Samples will be sent to the University of Minnesota’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in St. Paul for testing. Hunters will be notified of results Read more
Madison, Wis. – The chronic wasting disease (CWD) test results from the August 10-16, 2002 landowner shooting period in western Dane and eastern Iowa Counties are in, and wildlife managers report that 9 of 358 deer harvested tested positive. These nine new positives bring the tally of known CWD cases Read more