The day has come...

Curtis, In Mo. 80% is good enough for the MDC to bring in Elk and say that they are CWD free!



CWD has been around for 45 years and was discovered in Colorado on a STATE Research facility!!!



GO FIGURE...................THEY turn it LOOSE and WE pay for it the rest of our lives!

your preaching to the choir, our farm had 10 years of breeding wiped out by a doe that went off farm to be live bred and my wife and I did not have a single positive animal when they destroyed our herd, what we had left was better than we started with ten years before but any association with the disease makes you a leper, so after trying to keep going I shot the last does and fawns today

Whitetail Sanctuary said:

Curtis, In Mo. 80% is good enough for the MDC to bring in Elk and say that they are CWD free!



CWD has been around for 45 years and was discovered in Colorado on a STATE Research facility!!!



GO FIGURE...................THEY turn it LOOSE and WE pay for it the rest of our lives!

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if they followed statistical protocol tested 10000 elk randomly took 2000 that tested neg tested them randomly took 1000 retested them took 500 retested them there is still going to be a positive in the herd

my wife and i have decided that we are goign to sell our entire herd...i cannot run the risk of the state coming in and killing off my lively hood just to find out that they were negative....i think its ridiculous

Guys, Don't do anything for a bit. They are meeting in N.C. today with the feds. There might be some changes. Should know something shortly.

Gary

Gary.....who is meeting with the Feds....and what are they meeting on...CWD issues?

I found out today that I am to put at least one of my does down on Friday evening. What i was just casually told today, was I bought from a guy last year that ended up being directly related to the CWD. I flipped out, gave them an ear full, but to no avail. might as well not have wasted my breath.

I was told i will recieve absolutely no compensation, if she negative (which will take at least over a month to find out) then my quarentine will be dropped. If she by chance is positive (unlikely but cannot be ruled out) My WHOLE HERD will be eliminated, with absolutely no Compensation. I didn't sign up for this crap......What reason do i have to stick with deer farming, they are not my deer, I am just feeding deer for the department of ag.!!! If I am blessed enough to be found negative, there is no way I will continue....its the beginning of the end for me today boys.... This was ABSOLUTELY the last straw. I can't even look at my deer without feeling deep stomache pain, I am their caretaker, and I can't do a thing to help them, like i said above, we are all taking care of the AG's deer, believe they are yours all you want, but in reality they are not.

Mathew, I am really sorry to hear this news......I have sent you a PM.....

ddwhitetails said:

Gary.....who is meeting with the Feds....and what are they meeting on...CWD issues?

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I know our state guys are in North Carolina for the meeting and we are having a conference call with them next week to find out what our part in all this is going to be!

I hate to be negative but I don't imagine there will be much good news from it....hope I am wrong.....the slaughter has already begun from the one CWD case in PA......I can't imagine how many deer will be slaughtered because of it.....makes me sick!

Hate to say i told ya so but this is just the start. There are many states involved with these farms, including ours and many will feel the rath of this! We really do need for someone to represent deer farmers in court. I think hollowroad whitetails is a lawyer. Maybe they could dig something up. Just crazy for so much hoopla over something that has never killed a deer behind a fence. That i have ever heard of anyways!

My prayers to you breeders during this tough time. Our one case in Michigan is behind us but they just went to fifty bucks a head for testing. The news today from the DNR is over ten thousand deer have died from EHD in lower Michigan. I believe that was wild deer as there was no mention of deer farms.

The DNR with one case of CWD was like a world war but with EHD we hear very little in solving the problem.

You would think because we all are in this absurd CWD testing program that trace back herds would just have to keep on testing for diseased CWD animals and then if found the herd would be destroyed. To destroy the herd with no compensation is overkill. Pun intended. This government over reaction to CWD is stupid and we need a more friendly producer CWD program. Again cattle people would not stand for this why do we???

To take away your livelihood with no compensation is wrong and should be illegal if its not.

I just read this article. Does anyone have more information about biopsy testing?



How is CWD diagnosed?

Prior to 2008, the only method to definitively diagnose CWD was to examine the brain, tonsils, or lymph nodes in a laboratory. No live-animal test, vaccine, or treatment for CWD existed. In 2008, researchers from the USDA-APHIS and Colorado State University evaluated and validated the first live rectal-tissue biopsy method for detecting chronic wasting disease (CWD) in captive and wild elk. The live rectal biopsy test appears to be nearly as accurate as a post-mortem diagnostic test. The key advantage to the rectal biopsy test is that it can be performed on live animals. With this technique, managers can detect CWD in animals not showing any signs of the disease and, thus, remove them to decrease the likelihood of infecting other individuals. This new live test will improve management and control of the disease, especially in captive settings.

How many false negatives or false positives per thousand tests are the current live testing producing.



The US government is no doubt looking at the English BSE experience through the eighties & nineties,there have been over 200 human deaths so far & millions of cattle were killed.



The main vector for the disease in this case was feed. About 40% of a beasts carcase is not eaten by humans & these parts were rendered into animal protein & sold as feed.The rendering process does not destroy prions & the disease spread in an arithmetic manner,till it was discovered after its long incubation period.



Very little is known about prions,they are very bad,they are not alive ,so can't be killed like a virus, so don't be complacent ,however the abatement programme should match "acceptable" risk,not the destruction of business,lifestyles & families,if there is zero threat.What is acceptable risk?



In England many animals were destroyed because prions were given to them in their feed,this included closed herds with what they thought was the best biosecurity.



The US has had a recent case of BSE in a dairy cow (feed is suspected),so there is going to be some anxious times ahead for many unfortunately,not just deer breeders.Is there an option of building some bridges here, or is it likely to turn into a "blame everyone else" & ignore the many ways & roles of those who have acted as vectors?



Sharkey

Thanks for the good news Sharkey....keep it coming!

Hollowroad Whitetails said:

I just read this article. Does anyone have more information about biopsy testing?



How is CWD diagnosed?

Prior to 2008, the only method to definitively diagnose CWD was to examine the brain, tonsils, or lymph nodes in a laboratory. No live-animal test, vaccine, or treatment for CWD existed. In 2008, researchers from the USDA-APHIS and Colorado State University evaluated and validated the first live rectal-tissue biopsy method for detecting chronic wasting disease (CWD) in captive and wild elk. The live rectal biopsy test appears to be nearly as accurate as a post-mortem diagnostic test. The key advantage to the rectal biopsy test is that it can be performed on live animals. With this technique, managers can detect CWD in animals not showing any signs of the disease and, thus, remove them to decrease the likelihood of infecting other individuals. This new live test will improve management and control of the disease, especially in captive settings.

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This test is only 75 - 80% accurate at BEST!

whitetail sanctuary said:

this test is only 75 - 80% accurate at best!

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geee its a good start aint it 80 % and no dead deer ????? And people can keep farming .

ddwhitetails said:

Thanks for the good news Sharkey....keep it coming!

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Believe me, I'm doing my best to "sugar coat" the subject.



I dont see how deer farmers can be left carrying the blame for CWD when there are so many ways this disease has & can be transported.



A prohibition on anything always fails, & for governments to restrict the deer industry without due considerations will only push some of the trade underground.This is not an effective abatement action to this disease.



The first step should be to gather all the facts about this disease,include the "many" stakeholders in deer, & put in place achievable measures based on acceptable risk.



I hope someones already doing this.



Sharkey