Missouri CWD Tests all come back negative!

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.- Friday the Missouri Departments of Agriculture and Conservation announced that tests of 50 captive deer sampled in Linn County showed no signs of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). Tests were conducted by the USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. The Department of Conservation continues to test a sampling of free-ranging deer within a five-mile radius of the 800-acre tract where the initial CWD-positive white-tailed deer was located.

“The Missouri Department of Agriculture, Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services and USDA have worked cooperatively in putting an aggressive and effective plan in place and quickly executing that plan,” said State Veterinarian Dr. Taylor Woods. “The sampling and negative test results should reassure the public that the infection does not appear widespread.”



This great news, Missouri has already begun moving deer again and this should open up all avenues even faster.

Great news Eric! Thanks for the update.

Great News Eric,



Thanks for the update and all who helped in this time of need.



Scott

Awesome news Eric!!! Wishing everyone in the state and those that helped all the best!

This is great news but troubles me as to why we still know so little about how CWD is transmitted and is obviously not fatal and or contagious as we have been led to believe???

Actually....when you think about it, the test is more fatal than the disease!

LOL.... very true Ike... very true.... Thats great news. Thanks for the update Eric

Ikoff, They have not had enough time............The only vaccination right now for it is a KILLER CURE!...................But its probably going to be in the new health care package since it's going to be a cure all! They probably will come out with a reverser for thier original cure!

We are so thankful things are looking up for all you Missouri breeders. I met some very nice breeders from Missouri at NADeFA and we all hope you the best.

Great news Missouri.

The MDC said there test of 153 wild deer were all clear. Now we will see what happens next.

Can you say OOPS.

Can you say "Show Me State!!"

It is amazing that 203 healthy deer had to die because of this bogus positive test. This seems to be the only fatal part of this disease! I’m trying to think of another disease where we have to kill off healthy animals to look for it and I can’t think of any. Can anybody help me on this one? Step back and think about this! CWD has killed a VERY small number of whitetail deer, if any. While the process of looking for the disease has killed thousands.



When considering this case along with the Michigan and Minnesota cases, the evidence seems to point to the occurrence of a “rouge positive”. Regardless of whether it is natural or “man made” we are building up some very serious data that points in the exact opposite direction of what we’ve been told for the last 10 years.



As I’ve said before, this data can statistically prove that either:



The CWD test is not 100% accurate.



CWD or the folded prions that indicate CWD are naturally occurring in a very small percentage of the population and may not lead to death. These prions may be formed by some environmental occurrence in the soil.



Most whitetail deer are probably genetically resistance to the folded prions or CWD disease much like most sheep are now genetically resistant to scrapes.



IN most cases, these folded prions are not at all contagious. This one is obvious by the results in these 3 states. Of course that’s only the case if you believe in the test.



Although this appears to be over, it is far from it. We as a state have been sucker punched helped up, and checked out to be somewhat OK. However we still have many valued producers that have problems and we expect retribution from someone and at the very least an explanation for the reason for the punch. We will be looking for answers and trying to figure out what we can do to make things right for our breeders and make sure this doesn’t keep happening. If you are ignoring this, you may be next! And if you are not helping, by remaining silent, then you are hurting!



There are some states that are still not allowing Missouri deer in from certain breeders to close to the positive. And Indiana wont even let any animals in. We all know this is completely bogus. There is no risk! We are in these monitoring programs for a reason. So that we know we can move deer. These programs should protect us from this occurrence! If you are a breeder from any of the states that are defining areas or from Indiana we would like to see some pressure from the inside. Some written letters would be nice stating you do not support the bans. Let the people in your state and the Missouri Breeders know how you feel.



Everyone knows how I feel on open borders and an even playing field for all breeders. If you live in state that is not allowing deer in from Missouri, ask yourself this (Indiana, Michigan, Texas). Would I like to be able to continue to sell to Missouri? Should I be happy with an unfair trade advantage where I can take advantage in the short run but hurt everyone in the long run! I wander how many deer come in from Indiana to shooting ranches in Missouri each year? Image if the shoe was on the other foot?



We we be working on this problem and look forward to hearing from some of the organizations from the other states. THANKS IN ADVANCE!

We know exactly how you feel - Indiana won't let deer in from WI either, as well as MI and TX. We've been in this boat for 8 years now and despite the best efforts some things don't seem to be changing.

Sam,

Maybe you can pass this on. I have tried to before but I don't think its been brought up. Why did they not test any of the sheep in there for scrapies.

My opinion and has always been and will remain, until they can prove otherwise, is whitetail deer do not even get CWD. I still think it is a spiroplasma bacteria. When Elk or Mule Deer have CWD in a pen, you can see obvious signs. They are withering away and showing all the clinical signs. Not one case of this in the pens of Whitetail.

Maybe you need to send me a private message as I know some of the folks who watch this site. Sometimes we can't say what is being done or attempted. I will be happy to share that with you.

Tim

Tim and Sam:



having lived with CWD for a couple of decades now here in COLO, I can offer some thoughts.



Back in the 1960's and 70's the Co Div of Wildlife (CDOW) had classic CWD in Whitetails and white tail hybrids. So whites will get the full blown disease. I also recall that emaciated whites with diagnosed CWD were found in the WI hotspot.



Further, I also believe that Spiroplasma is a culprit in the disease and test results.



No one will admit that the classic Gold Standard TSE test, used for CWD, BSE and scrapie is FOOLS GOLD. The Western Blot and its derivatives the IHC and the ELISA are all subject to interference by insoluble 28 to 31 KD proteins which naturally occur in more places than just TSE disease. No one has even researched the potential inferences. Not a good thing. Soo I too will vote that the test is NOT 100% accurate and IS subject to false positives as well as substantial false negatives.



I will also agree that "spontaneous" CWD could be possible but would offer that it is probably linked to other occurance by some unknown route.



Harboring of the agent is quite likely in the environment and I think in some kinds of bugs (insects).



Further I would venture to say that the disease is not 100% fatal IF and only IF you can keep it out of the nervous system. Natural genetic immunity and I think some drugs will do that, until immunity builds up. Sooo, there is a hope for treatment, but not under the current research guidelines. A significant portion of the cervid population seems to be immune to CWD in low doses, but at high doses like in CDOW pens it is almost 100% fatal.



And of course, the agent does not appear to be very contageous, unless in very high doses. That could be due to natural immunity or just the vagarities of the agent.



Lastly, to risk angering some, the prohibition of import animals to some states is simply a political tool to control cervid farming. Any state that prohibits transfers should be likewise blacklisted from exporting to the offended state. that will hurt some farmers (like in Indiana) but they aint helping by hiding from the problem and NOT being vocal with their govt representatives.

I agree with what Sam is saying above.......we need to all be standing together as an industry on this CWD ....not seperated by our state borders.....i live in Pa and just because we have not had a CWD Positive yet does not mean we are doing anything better than those that have......all it means is we just have not found it yet.......As much as I hate to say it I am certian our time is coming and when and if it does i would want the support thaqt Sam is asking for from the Industry.....If your State is banning the inports from these states you do need to write them and tell them it is not only wrong but unproductive. We need to be pushing hard for a more accurate test as it is costing us as an Industry WAY to many perfectly healthy animals every year! This has been going on far too long and we NEED this TEST!!!! Not closed borders!!!

Antler,

Why you have to come in behind me. Heck about one sentence from you makes me want to edit my posts. Ha Ha

Seriously, I know when they found the emaciated positives in Wi., it was at the same rate percentage wise of emaciated negatives. I tried to get deer that had tested positive to be treated with high doses of Oxytetracycline in a bio secure environment. They have had some positive results with treatment with this drug now. The problem is, as any deer farmer knows, deer require much higher doses of the drug to be successful on any problem. They are only using the recomended dosage.

It is embarrassing how long the CWD UM&R has been held up by the USDA. I feel the Government agencies that thought they were going to drive deer farmers out of business with this nonconsequential disease, are looking for a graceful exit.

There are things trying to be accomplished here in my state. I basicly am having to fight some of the deer farmers in Oklahoma to get these things done. I am sure in the end after they spend all of my time and theirs by using their obstructionist tactics, they will say they weren't informed. They run their mouths so much you can't afford to let them know anything. Anyway, maybe I will call some of them out when its over. I am sure some of them are and have been buying deer from Sam and Bill. They don't participate with Whitetails of Oklahoma anyway.

The Indiana board of animal health has stated that they are willing to change its rules on importing deer from cwd positive states. There is a meeting coming up this month between them and IDEFA board memebers to discus this. The deer farmers that I have talked to agree that it needs to be changed. I believe that the guys on the IDEFA board and BOAH will work hard to get this done.