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CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE, CERVID - USA (05): (KS)
************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org
Date: Mon 8 Mar 2010
Source: The Pratt Tribune [edited]
<http://www.pratttribune.com/highlight/x182993143/CWD-spreading-slowly-in-northwest-Kansas
Chronic wasting disease [CWD] remains rare among the Kansas deer
population -- much rarer than epizootic hemorrhagic disease, which
exhibits remarkably similar signs, and there's no evidence that CWD
can be transmitted to humans. So why are Kansas Wildlife and Parks
Department (KWPD) scientists concerned by the 10 confirmed cases from
the 2009 hunting season and a presumptive 11th?
"Diseases can evolve and change. That's where the danger comes," said
Shane Hesting, wildlife disease coordinator for Wildlife and Parks.
"(And) we need to be concerned about CWD because we can't do anything
about it."
CWD is a member of the group of diseases called transmissible
spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Other diseases in this group
include scrapie in sheep and goats, bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE or mad cow disease) in cattle, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in
people.
A variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease can occur in humans who consume
tissue of the spinal cord or brain of cattle infected with BSE.
Wildlife and Parks and the Kansas Animal Health Department are
closely watching both wild and captive deer populations because of
the possibility, however remote, that chronic wasting disease might
one day make the leap from deer, elk, and antelope to humans.
[Chronic wasting disease has been known since the 1960s. In some
roughly 50 years of following this disease it has not yet jumped to
people. While that is no guarantee, it certainly gives some measure
of reassurance as to where we stand at this point in time. - Mod.TG]
Like mad cow disease, CWD is almost always fatal. 2 years may pass
before infected animals display any signs, and worst of all, the
infectious agent, proteins called prions, can survive in soil for
years. Animals begin shedding prions into the environment within a
few months of becoming infected. The number of prions shed is about
equal to the number of prions present in the body when the animal
finally succumbs to the disease. [I have not seen any definitive
studies on this. I am sure one of our well-read readers could send
the citation on this data if it exists. - Mod.TG]
"It's very stable," Hesting said. "It takes extreme temperatures to
kill it. Right now, we don't really have anything to disinfect soil
that won't kill everything else too."
Researchers are working on a more environmentally friendly
disinfecting agent, Hesting added. In the meantime, Wildlife and
Parks is relying on the slow spread of the disease and the
cooperation of hunters, taxidermists, and the ranchers who raise
captive populations to contain CWD. [Researchers should remember to
focus on hunters and wild cervids as well. - Mod.TG]
All of the confirmed cases of CWD from the 2009-2010 hunting season
are from northwest Kansas. "It means what we thought it was going to
mean," Hesting said. "A few years, spreading out slowly from a
central hot zone in Decatur County. We haven't done any vigorous
testing to confirm this, but it appears to be going slowly south and
east."
In total, 2702 animals were tested for CWD, including 16 elk, 278
mule deer, and 2408 white-tailed deer. Although the agency has
completed testing of its target sample for this hunting season,
biologists are still collecting heads from road-killed deer in
northwest Kansas. In addition, the agency is collecting road-killed
deer in Harper County, near an area where a captive elk herd had to
be destroyed in 2001 because of CWD.
Annual testing is part of ongoing effort by KDWP to monitor the
prevalence and spread of CWD. The fatal disease was first detected in
a wild deer taken in Cheyenne County in 2005. Three infected deer
were taken in Decatur County in 2007 and 10 tested positive in 2008,
all in northwest Kansas.
Hesting estimated from the testing that 1 to 2 percent of wild
white-tail deer in Decatur County are infected with CWD. Wild herds
in Colorado and Nebraska have much higher rates of prevalence, he
said -- 20 to 30 percent in some areas.
Captive populations can contribute to the spread of the disease,
Hesting said. He encouraged anyone raising deer or elk to take part
in the certification program of the Kansas Animal Health Department.
Hunters can do their part by taking their kills to taxidermists who
are part of the KDWP testing program or by taking carcasses to
landfills. Hunters should also avoid transporting carcasses far from
where the animal was killed.
"We're trying to come up with a solution to allow hunters to bone out
deer in the field," Hesting said. Currently, hunting regulations
require keeping most of the carcass intact until it is processed.
Hunters should always avoid killing an animal that appears sick in
any way. CDW is characterized in its later stages by emaciation,
stumbling, lowered head, and loss of fear of humans. Never consume
any part of an animal that appears disease. Any sick deer should be
reported to KDWP.
The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks contributed to this story.
[Byline: Conrad Easterday]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
[email protected]
[Although Kansas regulations seem to want the entire carcass intake,
most hunters remove the guts from their animals before transporting
the carcasses. Hence, the carcass, aside from the central nervous
system (brain and spinal cord) is not as likely to be the cause of
the spread of CWD. However, the gut piles are a different matter. It
was presented at the Unites States Animal Health Association in 2008,
and as yet unpublished, documenting how other deer consume the parts
of the gut piles, thus becoming infected. This same presentation also
documented how crows pick through the gut piles, and move the prion
agent on their feet as well as potentially on the feathers or in
their own GI system. Other wild animals may transport the prion agent
in a similar manner as deer and crows. - Mod.TG]
[The state of Kansas in the Midwestern US can be located on the
HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map at
<http://healthmap.org/r/019W.
Decatur County can be seen on the map of the state at
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decatur_County,_Kansas. - Sr.Tech.Ed.MJ]
[see also:
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (04): (KS) 20100306.0741
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (03): (MO) 1st rep. 20100303.0697
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (02): (VA) 20100124.0261
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA: (WV) 2009 20100120.0224
2009
----
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA (10): (WY) 20091112.3925
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA (09): (WY) 20091106.3841
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA (08): (MN) depopulation 20091031.3770
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA (07): (WY) 20091015.3548
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA (06): (MN) culling 20090923.3344
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA (05): disease spread 20090911.3198
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA (04): (WV) 20090601.2041
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - Canada: (SK) 20090417.1462
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA: (AZ) conf. absence 20090416.1447
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - Canada: (AB) 20090327.1192
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - Canada: (AB) 20090131.0444
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA: (MN) 20090131.0443
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA: (WV) 20090101.0004]
...................................sb/tg/mj/lm
*##########################################################*
************************************************************
ProMED-mail makes every effort to verify the reports that
are posted, but the accuracy and completeness of the
information, and of any statements or opinions based
thereon, are not guaranteed. The reader assumes all risks in
using information posted or archived by ProMED-mail. ISID
and its associated service providers shall not be held
responsible for errors or omissions or held liable for any
damages incurred as a result of use or reliance upon posted
or archived material.
************************************************************
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<http://www.isid.org/ProMEDMail_Donations.shtml
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I FIGURE THERE ARE SOME OF YOU THAT WOULD FIND SOME OF THEM INTERESTING...AT THE VERY LEAST!
LET ME KNOW IF YOU WOULD RATHER THEM IN THE MEMBERS ONLY SECTION!!!
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE, CERVID - USA (05): (KS)
************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org
Date: Mon 8 Mar 2010
Source: The Pratt Tribune [edited]
<http://www.pratttribune.com/highlight/x182993143/CWD-spreading-slowly-in-northwest-Kansas
Chronic wasting disease [CWD] remains rare among the Kansas deer
population -- much rarer than epizootic hemorrhagic disease, which
exhibits remarkably similar signs, and there's no evidence that CWD
can be transmitted to humans. So why are Kansas Wildlife and Parks
Department (KWPD) scientists concerned by the 10 confirmed cases from
the 2009 hunting season and a presumptive 11th?
"Diseases can evolve and change. That's where the danger comes," said
Shane Hesting, wildlife disease coordinator for Wildlife and Parks.
"(And) we need to be concerned about CWD because we can't do anything
about it."
CWD is a member of the group of diseases called transmissible
spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Other diseases in this group
include scrapie in sheep and goats, bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE or mad cow disease) in cattle, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in
people.
A variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease can occur in humans who consume
tissue of the spinal cord or brain of cattle infected with BSE.
Wildlife and Parks and the Kansas Animal Health Department are
closely watching both wild and captive deer populations because of
the possibility, however remote, that chronic wasting disease might
one day make the leap from deer, elk, and antelope to humans.
[Chronic wasting disease has been known since the 1960s. In some
roughly 50 years of following this disease it has not yet jumped to
people. While that is no guarantee, it certainly gives some measure
of reassurance as to where we stand at this point in time. - Mod.TG]
Like mad cow disease, CWD is almost always fatal. 2 years may pass
before infected animals display any signs, and worst of all, the
infectious agent, proteins called prions, can survive in soil for
years. Animals begin shedding prions into the environment within a
few months of becoming infected. The number of prions shed is about
equal to the number of prions present in the body when the animal
finally succumbs to the disease. [I have not seen any definitive
studies on this. I am sure one of our well-read readers could send
the citation on this data if it exists. - Mod.TG]
"It's very stable," Hesting said. "It takes extreme temperatures to
kill it. Right now, we don't really have anything to disinfect soil
that won't kill everything else too."
Researchers are working on a more environmentally friendly
disinfecting agent, Hesting added. In the meantime, Wildlife and
Parks is relying on the slow spread of the disease and the
cooperation of hunters, taxidermists, and the ranchers who raise
captive populations to contain CWD. [Researchers should remember to
focus on hunters and wild cervids as well. - Mod.TG]
All of the confirmed cases of CWD from the 2009-2010 hunting season
are from northwest Kansas. "It means what we thought it was going to
mean," Hesting said. "A few years, spreading out slowly from a
central hot zone in Decatur County. We haven't done any vigorous
testing to confirm this, but it appears to be going slowly south and
east."
In total, 2702 animals were tested for CWD, including 16 elk, 278
mule deer, and 2408 white-tailed deer. Although the agency has
completed testing of its target sample for this hunting season,
biologists are still collecting heads from road-killed deer in
northwest Kansas. In addition, the agency is collecting road-killed
deer in Harper County, near an area where a captive elk herd had to
be destroyed in 2001 because of CWD.
Annual testing is part of ongoing effort by KDWP to monitor the
prevalence and spread of CWD. The fatal disease was first detected in
a wild deer taken in Cheyenne County in 2005. Three infected deer
were taken in Decatur County in 2007 and 10 tested positive in 2008,
all in northwest Kansas.
Hesting estimated from the testing that 1 to 2 percent of wild
white-tail deer in Decatur County are infected with CWD. Wild herds
in Colorado and Nebraska have much higher rates of prevalence, he
said -- 20 to 30 percent in some areas.
Captive populations can contribute to the spread of the disease,
Hesting said. He encouraged anyone raising deer or elk to take part
in the certification program of the Kansas Animal Health Department.
Hunters can do their part by taking their kills to taxidermists who
are part of the KDWP testing program or by taking carcasses to
landfills. Hunters should also avoid transporting carcasses far from
where the animal was killed.
"We're trying to come up with a solution to allow hunters to bone out
deer in the field," Hesting said. Currently, hunting regulations
require keeping most of the carcass intact until it is processed.
Hunters should always avoid killing an animal that appears sick in
any way. CDW is characterized in its later stages by emaciation,
stumbling, lowered head, and loss of fear of humans. Never consume
any part of an animal that appears disease. Any sick deer should be
reported to KDWP.
The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks contributed to this story.
[Byline: Conrad Easterday]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
[email protected]
[Although Kansas regulations seem to want the entire carcass intake,
most hunters remove the guts from their animals before transporting
the carcasses. Hence, the carcass, aside from the central nervous
system (brain and spinal cord) is not as likely to be the cause of
the spread of CWD. However, the gut piles are a different matter. It
was presented at the Unites States Animal Health Association in 2008,
and as yet unpublished, documenting how other deer consume the parts
of the gut piles, thus becoming infected. This same presentation also
documented how crows pick through the gut piles, and move the prion
agent on their feet as well as potentially on the feathers or in
their own GI system. Other wild animals may transport the prion agent
in a similar manner as deer and crows. - Mod.TG]
[The state of Kansas in the Midwestern US can be located on the
HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map at
<http://healthmap.org/r/019W.
Decatur County can be seen on the map of the state at
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decatur_County,_Kansas. - Sr.Tech.Ed.MJ]
[see also:
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (04): (KS) 20100306.0741
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (03): (MO) 1st rep. 20100303.0697
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (02): (VA) 20100124.0261
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA: (WV) 2009 20100120.0224
2009
----
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA (10): (WY) 20091112.3925
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA (09): (WY) 20091106.3841
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA (08): (MN) depopulation 20091031.3770
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA (07): (WY) 20091015.3548
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA (06): (MN) culling 20090923.3344
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA (05): disease spread 20090911.3198
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA (04): (WV) 20090601.2041
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - Canada: (SK) 20090417.1462
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA: (AZ) conf. absence 20090416.1447
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - Canada: (AB) 20090327.1192
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - Canada: (AB) 20090131.0444
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA: (MN) 20090131.0443
Chronic wasting disease, cervids - USA: (WV) 20090101.0004]
...................................sb/tg/mj/lm
*##########################################################*
************************************************************
ProMED-mail makes every effort to verify the reports that
are posted, but the accuracy and completeness of the
information, and of any statements or opinions based
thereon, are not guaranteed. The reader assumes all risks in
using information posted or archived by ProMED-mail. ISID
and its associated service providers shall not be held
responsible for errors or omissions or held liable for any
damages incurred as a result of use or reliance upon posted
or archived material.
************************************************************
Donate to ProMED-mail. Details available at:
<http://www.isid.org/ProMEDMail_Donations.shtml
************************************************************
Visit ProMED-mail's web site at <http://www.promedmail.org.
Send all items for posting to: [email protected]
(NOT to an individual moderator). If you do not give your
full name and affiliation, it may not be posted. Send
commands to subscribe/unsubscribe, get archives, help,
etc. to: [email protected]. For assistance from a
human being send mail to: [email protected].
############################################################
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