Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game CWD in USA and Canada, your opinion wanted!

To my American and Canadian friends! Certainly, some of you know, CWD was found on wild reindeer and on moose in Norway last year. The CWD type on moose is not yet known, but CWD on Reinsdeer is known as a contagious variant from America. I live there where CWD on reindeer is detected. 3 reindeer were documented infected last year. The first was actually found random while it died of CWD. The last two were shot in the hunting season, but they were only infected not sick. Now the authorities and agencies have decided to eradicate this reindeer herd of approximately 2200 animals to get rid of CWD. There has been a lot of debate about this, but many believe the attempt at extinction may be right unless the infection occurs elsewhere and that more samples must be taken, also in other areas and on other species. This is the short version. We have no guarantee that one succeeds, so maybe we must at least live with CWD. I have studied a lot of American reports, etc., but now I want to hear how you experience having CWD. Of course, nobody will have CWD, but is it really the disaster someone says or what?

Here is the report that is the basis for det eradication: http://www.vkm.no/dav/66fc31f0ba.pdf

Well Sir, I can't pronounce your name, it must be foreign <grin>

I hope to at least point you in the right direction. The State of Arkansas had it's first case of CWD confirmed Feb, 2016. An elk was killed during a legal hunt in Oct 2015. Last year I searched a fair amount on the subject and I'll share a little of what I remember and know. Shortly I'll give you info on where & how to find out more than I know.

In YOUR case, CWD started somewhere... From what scientist say the "prions" that cause or carry CWD can live in the soil for many years. So---killing the whole herd will NOT guarantee the eradication of CWD in your area.

First I suggest that you 'google' CWD. I found 10 pages of links dealing with the disease.

Second, 'google' CWD Arkansas' First Case. Some of the info there is in the FIRST search. Again 10 pages of links.

Among all that info I found info about Norway's CWD last year during my search.

Per - Norway's CWD I read a scientist who said there IS a strain of CWD that 'humans' may contact. Please pardon my memory failures but the title of that particular strain was "Crutchfeld....." something. Again sorry.

Back to Arkansas' results, SO FAR our CWD is NOT Statewide. The AGFC (Arkansas Game & Fish Commission) has a 10 (ten) county area identified and 5 (five) of those counties being the core. I can't remember exactly but the number of CWD cases positively identified is in the vicinity of 100 or so animals, deer & elk combined.

Somewhere I found a map of the USA showing where CWD has been found. NO WHERE - NO WHERE it has been found has it been eradicated. Sorry but that's the bottom line.

I hope this helps and wish I could do more.

Jerry

Thanks for your answer. I have read a lot about the disease, I want to hear your experience as hunters.. I have a Facebookfriend in Wyoming and he talked to a friend who is a wildlife biologist and to my surprise he said CWD is really not a big deal in Wyoming. Well, I do not think everyone shares that view. He said the biggest issue has been brucellosis and blue tongue. I heard one norwegian said all deer and elk populations in Wyoming have a prevaelnce of 70% and if that happen i Norway we can put our rifles down. That is of course BS.

Miller http://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Research/CWD/Miller-Fischer_CWDlessons.pdf said CWD is not a minor scientific curiosisty or a national crisisi but something between. those extremes.

BTW Hjortejeger means Deerhunter

entertaining name.

1. Only hunters in N Central Arkansas have had experience with it to some degree. I live @150 mi. south of the area.

2. I remembered the name was close to "Crutchfeld, Jacobs" disease in humans. Also I have a close friend whose Sister died from it. Nearly all the symptoms are very similar in humans and the deer family.

3. From all of my search - and I did quite a bit - I'd agree with that CWD is BETWEEN the curiosity and crisis. IMO it could be come a local and spreading crisis if ignored. When opportune I'll try to find that map of CWD in the USA. It's NOT nationwide. However everywhere it has been, it STILL exists.

4. IMO eliminating the herd is 'over' reaction because the disease is STILL in the ground and can affect those in the deer family beside reindeer. The prions are spread by vultures including eagles, and other scavengers.

Jerry

Well I have MORE disappointing news. The following chart comes from the AGFC as of 2/23/2017


Map of CWD samples taken through Feb. 23, 2017. Click on image for larger view.
Positive CWD cases found as of Feb. 23, 2017
County CWD-positive deer CWD-positive elk
Newton 164 5
Boone 11 0
Carroll 20 0
Madison 6 0
Marion 2 0
Pope 2 0
Searcy 1 1
------------

Sorry the map didn't copy. That makes 206 cases in WT deer./ / / 6 cases in Elk.

I'm very glad that SO FAR few elk have been confirmed with CWD.

Jerry

Pennsylvania has been dealing with it for several years now. Most of the early cases were related to deer from commercial deer farms but they knew it would get here eventually from Maryland or New York. Pa. Game Commission looked at what other states did and decided that trying to eradicate the deer herd wasn't going to eliminate CWD. So far, they have been working to contain and slow the spread. Link to their CWD page:

http://www.pgc.pa.gov/Wildlife/Wildlife-RelatedDiseases/Pages/ChronicWastingDisease.aspx

I hunt within (but very near the edge) of Disease Management Area 3 but live 100 miles away near DMA 2. No major hassles or changes for me. I have not seen nor heard of any wild deer that had CWD in DMA 3, only a 'farmed' one several years ago. I think they have been considering lifting DMA 1 since no wild cases have been found there and none in farmed deer for several years.

They have been trying to thin but not eliminate the deer population in DMA 2. The theory is fewer deer will come in contact with the prions and fewer will spread the prions. Will it work? Who knows.

Dale

Okay, I've found some of the CWD info "Norway" - Posted by Mudhen, 4/25/16 on Deer Hunting Forum

Chronic Wasting Disease Has Reached Europe
mudhen Online Content
Campfire 'Bwana

Joined: May 2005
Posts: 12,019
Boot Heel of New Mexico


*>*>** From The Wildlife Society News Bulletin:

A reindeer in Norway has been diagnosed with chronic wasting disease, a deadly disease that targets cervids, earlier this month.

This is the first time the disease, which was first detected in the United States in the 1960s, has reached Europe and is also the first-ever detection of the disease in a free-ranging reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). The reindeer was from the Nordfjella population in South Norway.

Wildlife biologists don’t know yet how the disease got to Norway. “That’s the million dollar question,” said Matthew Dunfee, the project coordinator of the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance. “We hope to answer it in the next coming months.”

Dunfee said wildlife biologists became more aware of the disease’s prevalence in the U.S. in the early 2000s, but they still are unsure of how it started. Now that it has reached Norway and there’s no documented transmission route, they are trying to understand how it spread to the country.

There are two possibilities regarding how this happened, according to Dunfee. One option is that an animal was illegally and surreptitiously moved from an area in the U.S. where CWD is prevalent to Norway. Another possibility is that the disease, which takes the form of mad cow disease in cows or scrapie in bovines, which has been detected in Europe, could have jumped the species barrier into the reindeer. However, Dunfee was hesitant to suggest that was the case because previous research has shown this is a difficult barrier to cross.

In the meantime, Norway must take a few steps in order to prevent the disease from spreading, Dunfee said, especially because when the disease shows up in one animal, it’s likely to be in animals in the surrounding area as well. “The odds it will only be in one animal are very low,” he said.

First, managers should shut down any transmission modes possible, Dunfee said. This means prohibiting the transfer of live cervids or cervid parts. Then, they will begin to sample other animals in the area to determine the prevalence of the disease. Based on these findings, the biologists will make management recommendations. “Because there’s no known management technique to eradicate CWD, the name of the game is not to eradicated CWD, it is to manage it,” he said.

Wildlife biologists and managers in the U.S. continue to try to manage the disease as well. While Wyoming is known as the “great control” because it chose not to take management steps for CWD, other states such as Wisconsin have implemented significant management steps and, according to Dunfee, have lower prevalence rates.

Meanwhile, Arkansas reported its first case of CWD in an elk in Newton County this past February. Wildlife managers sampled elk and deer in and around the area and found 82 animals tested positive for the disease. Management decisions will be made in Arkansas within the next year. “That’s what Europe now has to deal with,” Dunfee said. “The first step is to figure out how much the disease spread in local herds. Then they can start to take adequate measures.”

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The Following was posted by KC - 4/26/2016


Hjortejeger - - You may already have ALL this info, but I don't know. Again trying to help.


Re: Chronic Wasting Disease Has Reached Europe [Re: mudhen]
KC Online Content
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 5,268


Colorado Springs, Colorado USA
Actually there is nothing new about Chronic Wasting Disease. It has been around since biblical times. It's just the name and identification that is new. CWD in wild cervids, mad cow disease, Scrapies in sheep and goats, and


>> **Creutzfelt Yakob disease in humans, are all the same disease. Scrapies has been around as long as men have herded sheep and goats. It's only that people are beginning to notice the rare disease in other animals and humans that it has become renown.
*******


http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/n...overview_of_chronic_wasting_disease.html
"CWD is a member of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) family of diseases, or prion diseases, that includes bovine spongiform encephalopathy; scrapie of sheep and goats; transmissible mink encephalopathy; and kuru,
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), and variant CJD of people."

It's often associated with cannibalism. Creutzfeldt Yakob disease was first identified in the 19th century in native cannibals living in the south Pacific and east Indies. The cause of mad cow disease was identified as stemming from placing the remains of dead cattle in cattle feed.

It also seems to be more prevalent in herds of animals living in confined spaces. This leads researchers to believe that cannibalism is not the only means of transmission.

KC



Jerry

They're assuming that it jumped from the US to Norway. Have they considered the possibility that it jumped from Norway to the US but just wasn't detected there until now? Tracking a disease like this requires a lot of assuming. Reindeer have been imported into the US and Canada in the past. Since the disease was unknown, the imports could have carried it. You can't just assume that since it was found here first that it started here. The fact is that they just don't know.

Here's a 1907 newspaper article about a herd of reindeer being imported into Canada from Norway. REINDEER

R C

Very Good Point

Thnx


Jerry

Hjortejeger: I live and hunt in the state of Colorado, where CWD is thought to have originated in penned deer at Colorado State University. Here is a link to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife web page with details on how they are managing CWD:


http://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/ResearchCWD.aspx



As you know, there is no evidence of CWD being passed to humans. My personal observation is that it's not as bad as initially thought. I've never encountered an infected animal (to my knowledge) and don't know anyone else who has. There's been a lot of attention focused on game farm operations because it's thought that crowding promotes transmission of the disease.

Hjort = deer, or red deer;

jeger = Hunter

I believe the spelling is Creutzfeldt-Jakob.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), and variant CJD of people."


>> **Creutzfelt Yakob disease in humans, are all the same disease. Scrapies has been around as long as men have herded sheep and goats. It's only that people are beginning to notice the rare disease in other animals and humans that it has become renown.
*******


These excerpts from P 1 - -


Jerry

My thoughts on CWD in general is it has always been around. Deer and elk densities are at historical highs in most places. Testing for CWD is much more prevalent. Those factors combined are going to catch a lot more cases. There have been numerous cases that have been detected in areas vastly removed from areas CWD was previously detected. Again leading me to believe widespread very low level infection that is just now being caught by increased testing.

As for Norway I have a good idea of how it arrived. Again based on my thoughts of long term low level infection being undetected until testing increased. In the 1930s whitetail deer were brought to Finland. Very possible one of those animals was a carrier of CWD. Either showed no symptoms or symptoms were dismissed as shipping related. We have had 70 plus years that CWD could be floating around now. During that time we have natural movement of animals. But probable not enough to get things all the way to Norway. But there is reindeer herding practices. I am not very familiar with it. But I would assume as with any livestock mixing in new blood is always a good thing and over 70 plus years animals could of been been bought sold and traded fair and wide. See no reason why animals could not of moved between Norway and Finland. Especially among the native cultures years ago.

As for fixing the problem. Doubt we can if anything we can reduce number of animals in turn reducing the number of infected animals that the odds are likely it won't be detected. But it will always be here just like it always was.

How did CWD come to Norway? Well there has been some speculations, but the report (see the link in my first post, it's in english) says:"The opinion concluded that the origin and time of introduction of CWD agents in Norway are unknown" The report says it's unlikely from mad cow disease or scrapie, but they really don't know. In the beginning they talked about possibly urine from US, but now they don't talk about that anymore. In an interview after this report was made one of the leading researchers said that since many people travel to America that could be one possible reason, perhaps one hunter getting prions under his boots, but he admitted he really don't know. To make it short: The same theories of origin has been debated in Norway and in the US, but here they could also say it came from another country since it has been documented in America first. I'am sure americans would say the same if it was first documented here. But the truth is, we really don't know.

I want to hear your experience with CWD, does it affect you or/and your hunting in anyway? Are people afraid the deer and elk herds can decimated in the future? To me it look like people in for example Michigan are more worried than in Wyoming, perhaps because it is relatively new there.?

If you have time take a look at this report http://www.vkm.no/dav/66fc31f0ba.pdf

one of the speculations within the veterinary field (i'm not a vet, just know a few) was that some of the movement between states specifically western states to eastern states would be the guys going west shooting elk/deer and bringing back part of the carcass for either the taxidermist or to process the meat at home.

bring back part of the animal with the spinal cord, cut off either the meat or cape and discard the rest out back not thinking anything of it, now you have moved CWD contaminates into the local area


as far as I know although CWD & CJD(mad cow) are similar they haven't shown CWD to be transferable to humans (maybe a longer incubation period? or just no risk for us?)

Virtually all of the outbreaks outside of Colorado and Wyoming can be traced to the transport of live animals. Even within Colorado, the introduction of CWD to the west slope was apparently the result of elk from the captive breeding pens at CSU being shipped to a research exclosure in Moffat County in northwest Colorado. When the research project was terminated, the gates were opened and the elk in the experimental exclosure were released to the wild. Very shortly thereafter, the first cases of CWD-infected animals started popping up in Moffat and Rio Blanco counties. However, commercial shipments between elk and deer breeders (and well as high fence hunting preserves) have been the source of most of the infected animals that have introduced CWD to new Cervid populations thourghout the nation.

For me it has not effected the way I hunt much. I live in Wisconsin first state east of the MIssissippi to have CWD discovered.The DNR had tried to wipeout the herd in the original hotzone. They realized it was not going to happen. They are still aggressively harvesting deer in that area of the state and monitoring for CWD very aggressively. Not surprisingly the number of cases keep going up. More you test for it the more you might find.

I hunt in areas of the state near isolated CWD positives. Single digit percentage or less of the deer tested have tested positive. Only effect I have felt is the ban on baiting. The DNR has banned using bait in any county within 10 miles on a positive CWD deer. I think I am about 20 miles from the closest positive but the county line was within the ten mile range.

I hunt large agriculture areas. Basically too much of a good thing. So during bow season early in the fall I would use bait. Give the deer something a little special to try and pull them away from the hundreds of other good food sources. Worked fairly well. I enjoy eating venison and like to fill the freezer. Without baiting my early season success was terrible. So I adapted. I now hunt the late muzzleloading season. Much easier to pattern deer once it is cold and there are very few food sources left. I am just not a fan of cold weather.

I am not in anyway concerned about the deer I kill as far as eating them. I know no more about their health than the plastic wrapped meat in the grocery store. I do my own butchering. So I do know that the animal has processed and handled in cleanest way possible and all parts of the animal they say to avoid during processing are not disturbed.

You ain't going to get rid of it by killing the entire herd, any biologist that considers that isn't worth their salt. It's always been around and isn't anything to panic over! it is never a matter of never been there it is just a matter of hasn't been found yet ! More and better testing is making it seem worse than ever (panic mode) !!