CWD ARTICLES Updated 12/27/02 Oregon joins battle of deer, elk illness Scientists gather specimens that will be tested for chronic wasting disease. BILL MONROE The Associated Press December 24, 2002 WALDPORT - The most explosive issue in the history of North American deer and elk management could erupt from the end of a grapefruit knife that Doug Cottam bought at Fred Meyer. Hands safely squeezed into latex gloves, he kneels at a rural roadside and works the bent blade carefully down the cranial canal of a poached elk to slice free the bull's brainstem. "There it is," the seasoned Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist says quietly, with a little awe. "That's all there is to it." Biologists, Oregon State Police, sheriff's deputies, treaty tribal members, hunters, ranchers, zookeepers and even state and county road crews that come upon roadkill have spread throughout Oregon this fall in a determined effort to make sure a deadly brain disease hasn't invaded from its strongholds in Rocky Mountain states and Canadian provinces. The 500 to 1,500 samples being collected mark the state's most intense and widespread surveillance of big game animals, part of a nationwide race against chronic wasting disease, a fatal, incurable biological time bomb. It threatens North America's wild and domestic herds, along with billions of dollars invested in hunting, farming and wildlife management. The best and earliest test thus far is possible only on the brainstems of animals within 24 hours of death, making the fall hunting seasons a perfect sampling window. So far, Oregon is disease-free, but chronic wasting has been diagnosed in free-ranging or captive mule deer, white-tailed deer and elk in 11 states and two Canadian provinces, some of which have slaughtered thousands of wild deer and farmed elk to stem the spread. Urgency heightens every time it hopscotches across entire states or even within new borders. It recently was reported in an elk at Wind Cave National Park near Mount Rushmore, South Dakota's second case in a wild elk. In early November, Illinois' first case was diagnosed. "It's the most frightening thing I've ever seen," said Cottam, 43. "These things are awfully hard to stop." Chronic wasting, similar to mad cow and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, appears limited to deer and elk. Testing across the continent concentrates on those two species, with surveillance and research on other species in their family, called cervids. They include a wide range of grazing animals, from moose, caribou and reindeer to tiny imports such as axis, fallow and sika deer. Oregon is gathering as many specimens as possible from its 67 geographic game management units through December. They'll be shipped in January to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. Results are expected in the spring or early summer. Another intense collection scheduled for 2003 will give biologists a better idea of the disease's presence, and annual tests will continue for the foreseeable future. Dozens of states, including Oregon, have banned interstate traffic on cervids, putting the skids on a growing elk-ranching industry and affecting species that haven't been afflicted, such as axis, fallow and sika deer raised for their restaurant-quality venison. Even reindeer used in live Santa Claus displays can't cross many state lines. Cottam and other biologists in Oregon began with buck deer seasons in late September, but poor hunting in dry fall weather almost immediately sent them searching for additional sources. "We've gotten a lot of cooperation," said Cottam, who's attached to Fish and Wildlife's Newport office. "And it's across the board, with hunters, game farmers, tribal hunters, road crews, state police, everyone. I've actually gotten many of my samples from department employees who call me from their own hunts. Nobody wants this here." Perhaps the most unusual collection point is the Wildlife Safari "meat wagon," which has a state permit to search Winston-area roadways each morning for fresh roadkill to feed its large cats. The drive-through zoo has contributed more than 20 skulls to the state's effort. Don Whittaker, a staff biologist coordinating the sampling, said extra attention is being paid to regions such as the northern areas of Central Oregon, where tuberculosis was discovered last year at an elk-ranching operation. Tests on lung tissues also are being made in those zones for TB, another disease feared to be spreading among the continent's wildlife. Some forms are transmissible to humans, although chronic wasting has not jumped from the cervid species to humans or other grazing animals, such as cattle. Larry Cooper, deputy wildlife division director for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, said Oregon has been told that the federal government will pay the testing bills at $35 to $50 apiece. "Ultimately, we're going to find a better test for it," Detwiler said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Game officials use new live test on New Mexico deer Silver City Sun-News By The Associated Press Sunday, December 22, 2002 - SANTA FE (AP) - New Mexico wildlife managers are using a new method of testing for chronic wasting disease that allows them to gather samples without killing the animals. The recent discovery at Colorado State University that the disease can be detected in the animals' lymph nodes led to the change. Wildlife officers performed tonsillectomies on three mule deer last week. All three survived the operation. "We're only the second state in the nation to be doing it," said Martin Frentzel, spokesman for the state Department of Game and Fish. "This process is just now hitting the scientific journals. It really is groundbreaking." Each procedure was performed at an outside operating station and took about 20 minutes. Blindfolded and hobbled, the tranquilized deer were brought to the station, where they are given an antibiotic. A vise holds the deer's mouth open while a veterinarian reaches down its throat with a device and removes small pieces of a tonsil. The deer is then given a blood test and is fitted with radio collars and ear tags. "The deer is sleeping basically, and we monitor its temperature and its heart rate," said Patrick Morrow, wildlife biologist for White Sands Missile Range Morrow. "All of the deer that we handled, we didn't have any mortalities, and they all responded just perfectly." The sedated deer were taken to a secluded place where they slept off the medication for about an hour before they got back on their feet. Officers then tracked and observed the deer for a day or two. "Within a day, they're ready to eat again," said wildlife health specialist Kerry Mower of the Game and Fish Department. "There will still be some pain in their throats, but it wasn't hindering their eating at all. We were very satisfied with that." The samples were sent to CSU's chronic wasting disease diagnostic laboratory for testing. Officials said it will take several weeks before the results are returned. If any of the test results come back positive, the deer will be tracked and killed, officials said. Once found only in small areas of Colorado and Wyoming, chronic wasting disease has spread to elk ranches and wild deer herds as far away as Wisconsin. New Mexico's first and only case of the disease was detected in a sick mule deer killed March 28 at White Sands Missile Range. Chronic wasting disease creates sponge-like holes in a deer's brain, causing the animal to grow thin, act abnormal and die. The disease is similar to mad cow disease. There has never been a known case of it being transferred to humans or livestock. The state Department of Game and Fish is conducting the tests with the U.S. Army, U.S. Department of Agriculture, CSU and other agencies. Because it takes more time and personnel to perform the live tests, "it's very costly to do the operation we're doing," Morrow said. "Killing is the easier, quicker, more realistic way to get the number of samples you need, but we don't have those numbers down here." Larry Bell, director of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, wanted to attempt the live tests rather than eradicate the state's already depleted deer herds. "Unless we have to, we don't want to go in there and whack a bunch of deer," Frentzel said. Like many states in the West, New Mexico has a mule-deer population that is currently lower than it has been for decades. Most biologists agree the decline can be blamed on drought, increased predation and poor habitat. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. [Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml]