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Published Date: 2013-05-18 13:17:59
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (05): (VA)
Archive Number: 20130518.1720975

CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE, CERVID - USA (05): (VIRGINIA)
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Date: 15 May 2013
Source: Daily Progress [edited]
http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/chronic-wasting-disease-in-deer-likely-tomove-farther-east/article_173a965a-bcea-11e2-ad43-0019bb30f31a.html?


Chronic wasting disease, a progressive condition that can remain idle for years before killing the infected animal, has been found in deer 25 miles from the Shenandoah National Park's northern border, said park biologist Rolf Gubler. The park stretches northeast from outside Waynesboro to Front Royal.

Experts say there is no evidence that chronic wasting disease can be transmitted to humans, but its effect on deer, as well as moose and elk, is devastating; signs include dramatic weight loss, tremors and teeth-grinding, and the disease is incurable.

Park officials held meetings on chronic wasting disease earlier this spring [2013] in Charlottesville, Harrisonburg and Washington, and they are working on a plan to contain the infection. That could include thinning the heaviest populations of whitetail deer in the park.

"We could theoretically use sharpshooters ... but that hasn't been done yet," Gubler said

Big Meadows, in the park's central area, is dense with deer, Superintendent Jim Northup said. Park officials also plan to be more active in the surveillance and detection of the disease.

Halting it could be difficult. Deer in Frederick and Shenandoah counties have been quarantined, but as the disease spreads slowly, it is nearly impossible to contain and even harder to track, said Ed Clark, president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro.

[Byline: Aaron Richardson]

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Communicated by:
ProMED-mail from HealthMap Alerts
<promed@promedmail.org>

[There are numerous scientific papers pointing to the fact that prions, the causative agent of chronic wasting disease, can be passed through urine, through lymph tissue, and through neurological tissue. Hunters often use urine to call in other animals. They may unintentionally be spreading the disease. When a hunter guts the animal and leaves a gut pile, it is consumed by animals, including deer. Since the lymphoid tissue and the neurological tissue are also consumed from these gut piles, the consumer is then a mechanism for transport.

If the disease is ever to be stopped, leaving gut piles in the area and using urine as a scent to call in deer will likely have to cease.

This is not meant to point fingers at any group but rather as a call to examine policy in light of the scientific evidence on how the disease is spread.

Virginia may be found on the HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map at: http://healthmap.org/r/6Y6M. - Mod.TG]

See Also

Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (04): (KS) 20130314.1586084
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (03): (PA), 2012 20130307.1574810
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (02): (KS) 20130123.1510640
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA: (WI) 20130105.1483535
2012
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Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (15): (MO) 20121222.1465180
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (14): (IA,WI) 20121218.1457000
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (13): (WI) 20121214.1450977
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (12): (WY) 20121030.1374832
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (11): (PA): 20121016.1345453
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (10): (PA) 1st rep 20121014.1341794
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (09): (IA) 20120906.1282857
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (08): (KS) NOT 20120830.1271968
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (07): (IA) 1st rep. 20120721.1210369
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - USA (06): (TX) 20120711.1197183
Chronic wasting disease, cervid - Canada (02): (AB) 20120630.1185478
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