Post by Woody Williams on Mar 4, 2008 10:58:41 GMT -5
2007 Indiana CWD Monitoring Summary
The Indiana DNR has been monitoring Indiana's deer herd for chronic wasting disease (CWD) since 2002. So far, no Indiana deer have tested positive for CWD prions.
CWD is a serious neurologic disease affecting white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and moose. CWD has been a serious concern for a number of western and plains states for the last several years and has now been found in white-tailed deer in Illinois and Wisconsin.
During 2007, DNR biologists collected samples from 552 deer from 51 deer hunter check stations in 49 counties during opening weekend of the 2007 firearms season (Nov. 17-18). An additional 90 road-killed deer were sampled, resulting in a total of 642 deer sampled.
Tissue samples were sent to Purdue's Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory for CWD testing. Samples sent for analysis represented 72 different counties. Results from 610 usable samples were returned, and none of the returned samples detected the presence of CWD. Since 2002, 9,609 samples from check stations and road-killed deer have been tested, with CWD failing to be detected in all samples.
Through 2007, 33 outwardly noticeable sick wild deer have also been tested. CWD was also not detected in these deer.
CWD is one of a group of diseases called Transmissible Spongiform Encepalopathies. The agents of CWD are called prions which are abnormal, protease-resistant forms of cellular proteins normally synthesized in the central nervous system and lymphoid tissues.
Although the methods of CWD transmission are not completely known, evidence suggests that infected animals may transmit the disease by animal-to-animal contact or by environmental contamination. CWD is always fatal to the infected animal and there is only a limited diagnostic test available to detect CWD in live animals.
While CWD is related to other well-known diseases, such as scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, public health officials have not found any evidence that CWD in deer, elk or moose can be transmitted to humans.
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Media contact,
Chad Stewart,
DNR Deer Biologist,
812-334-1137
The Indiana DNR has been monitoring Indiana's deer herd for chronic wasting disease (CWD) since 2002. So far, no Indiana deer have tested positive for CWD prions.
CWD is a serious neurologic disease affecting white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and moose. CWD has been a serious concern for a number of western and plains states for the last several years and has now been found in white-tailed deer in Illinois and Wisconsin.
During 2007, DNR biologists collected samples from 552 deer from 51 deer hunter check stations in 49 counties during opening weekend of the 2007 firearms season (Nov. 17-18). An additional 90 road-killed deer were sampled, resulting in a total of 642 deer sampled.
Tissue samples were sent to Purdue's Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory for CWD testing. Samples sent for analysis represented 72 different counties. Results from 610 usable samples were returned, and none of the returned samples detected the presence of CWD. Since 2002, 9,609 samples from check stations and road-killed deer have been tested, with CWD failing to be detected in all samples.
Through 2007, 33 outwardly noticeable sick wild deer have also been tested. CWD was also not detected in these deer.
CWD is one of a group of diseases called Transmissible Spongiform Encepalopathies. The agents of CWD are called prions which are abnormal, protease-resistant forms of cellular proteins normally synthesized in the central nervous system and lymphoid tissues.
Although the methods of CWD transmission are not completely known, evidence suggests that infected animals may transmit the disease by animal-to-animal contact or by environmental contamination. CWD is always fatal to the infected animal and there is only a limited diagnostic test available to detect CWD in live animals.
While CWD is related to other well-known diseases, such as scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, public health officials have not found any evidence that CWD in deer, elk or moose can be transmitted to humans.
--------------
Media contact,
Chad Stewart,
DNR Deer Biologist,
812-334-1137