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Deer From Eastern PA Positive for CWD

Joined May 2011
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Linesville, PA
DEER FROM WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA FARM TESTS POSITIVE FOR CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE


<a</a News for Immediate Release


April 8, 2014


<a</a<a</a Deer from Western Pennsylvania Farm Tests Positive for Chronic Wasting Disease


Harrisburg â€“ A Jefferson County deer tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture today, marking the seventh case in a captive or wild deer since 2012.


The five year old white-tailed deer died on a Reynoldsville deer farm and tested positive for the disease at the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory in Harrisburg.


That farm and the Walnutport, Northampton County, farm where the deer was born


have been quarantined. Deer cannot be moved on or off the properties.


The investigation continues and additional herds may be quarantined.


Chronic Wasting Disease attacks the brains of infected antlered animals such as deer, elk and moose, producing small lesions that eventually result in death. Animals can get the disease through direct contact with saliva, feces and urine from an infected animal.


There is no evidence that humans or livestock can get the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


Symptoms 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.


Two Adams County deer tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease in 2012. During the investigation the department quarantined 27 farms in 16 counties associated with the positive samples. Since then, five farms remain quarantined.


Surveillance for the disease has been ongoing in Pennsylvania since 1998.


The Department of Agriculture coordinates a mandatory surveillance program for more than 23,000 captive deer on 1,100 breeding farms, hobby farms and shooting preserves. Three captive deer have tested positive since 2012.


The Pennsylvania 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 the disease. Four wild deer have tested positive for the disease since 2013.


For more information, visit www.agriculture.state.pa.us and click on the “Chronic Wasting Disease Informationâ€� button.
 
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 09, 2014
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Iowa : Chronic Wasting Disease Detected for First Time in Wild Iowa Deer
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margin:0px 0px .75em Chronic Wasting Disease Detected for First Time in Wild Iowa Deer

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margin:0px 0px .75emPosted: 04/09/2014 The first case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a wild Iowa deer has been confirmed.

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margin:0px 0px .75emThe deer was reported as harvested in Allamakee County during the first shotgun season in early December. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is currently working to obtain as much information as possible about the infected deer to implement its CWD response plan.

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margin:0px 0px .75em“We have been testing for CWD in Iowa’s deer herd for more than a decade and are optimistic, given the extensive data we have collected, that we have caught this early,� said Chuck Gipp, DNR director.

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margin:0px 0px .75em“The next step will be to focus our monitoring efforts in the area where the animal was harvested and work closely with local landowners and hunters to gather more information.� said Gipp.

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margin:0px 0px .75emCWD is a neurological disease affecting primarily deer and elk. It is caused by an abnormal protein, called a prion that attacks the brains of infected animals, causing them to lose weight, display abnormal behavior and lose bodily functions. Signs include excessive salivation, thirst and urination, loss of appetite, progressive weight loss, listlessness and drooping ears and head. The only reliable test for CWD requires testing of lymph nodes or brain material.

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margin:0px 0px .75emThere is currently no evidence that humans can contract CWD by eating venison. However, the National Institute of Health and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that hunters do not eat the brain, eyeballs or spinal cord of deer and that hunters wear protective gloves while field dressing game and boning out meat for consumption.

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margin:0px 0px .75emPrior to the positive detection in Iowa, CWD had been detected in every bordering state.

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margin:0px 0px .75em“With CWD in all the states around us, we have understood the possibility of a positive detection in the wild deer herd for some time� said Gipp.

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margin:0px 0px .75emSince 2002, the DNR has collected more than 650 samples of deer from within a five-mile radius of where the deer is believed to have been harvested