Fatal deer disease may be spreading across Southeast U.S. - Entrepreneur Generations

226 counties in 23 states have reported CWD in wild cervids (U.S. Geological Survey map)

A disease that cripples deer, usually found in the Western and Midwestern U.S., may be spreading across the Southeast. A white-tail deer tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease in Mississippi this month, the second deer confirmed to be carrying the disease in the state, Dan Chapman reports for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"I would be shocked if we only had these two," William McKinley, the deer program coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, told Chapman. "These deer died of CWD. The first deer was tested and retested and notched the highest possible CWD score. He was contagious for well over a year. I’m not confident we won’t find others."

CWD is a prion disease, like mad cow disease in cattle, that attacks the central nervous system of cervids, or animals in the deer family, including moose, elk and reindeer. It's progressive, always fatal, and there are no treatments or vaccines, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While the disease incubates — sometimes for years — seemingly healthy infected animals can shed prions in blood, sweat or urine and potentially infect other animals, Chapman reports.

No humans are known to have been infected with CWD, but studies show risks to monkeys that were fed meat from CWD-infected animals. Infection rates for wild deer in disease-prone areas are about 10 percent, but rates among captive deer populations can hit nearly 80 percent. The illegal transportation of deer across state lines to captive animal facilities is considered the main cause of CWD's spread, Chapman reports. 

"State and federal conservation and law enforcement officials are newly vigilant about the spread of CWD," Chapman reports. "They’re testing dead deer for CWD in record numbers, banning transportation of carcasses and some body parts across state lines, imposing feeding bans and boosting CWD education and outreach."

The CDC recommends that hunters in disease-prone areas avoid eating deer and elk parts known to harbor prions, including the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils, and lymph nodes. 

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2Jt8Xye Fatal deer disease may be spreading across Southeast U.S. - Entrepreneur Generations

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