By: Terry Bender and Dustin Rozier Students of Dr. James Corbett Lowndes County High School Valdosta, Georgia November, 2002

What is Chronic Wasting Disease? Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a relatively new disease that is a threat to North American deer populations. CWD is a brain disease related to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, also known as "Mad Cow Disease. CWD makes the deer or elk waste away before dying.

CWD appears to be caused by an abnormal protein called a prion. CWD can be spread by close contact between animals, and animals exposed to a CWD-contaminated environment may also become infected. Usually, months to years pass from when the animal is infected to when it shows signs of disease. Classic CWD signs in deer/elk 18 months or older include poor body condition, tremors, stumbling, increased salivation, difficulty swallowing, and excessive thirst or urination.

Deer with Chronic Wasting Disease.

There has been no way to test a live animal for CWD; the brain from a recently dead animal is examined microscopically.There has been no way to test a live animal for CWD; the brain from a recently dead animal is examined microscopically. Researchers in Colorado are developing a live animal test for deer, using tonsil biopsies. CWD was first recognized by biologists in the 1960s as a disease syndrome of captive deer held in wildlife research facilities in Ft. Collins, CO, but was not recognized as a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy(TSE) until the late 1970s. Testing for CWD

CWD affects elk, mule and white-tailed deer. It has been diagnosed in free-ranging deer and elk primarily in northeastern Colorado/southeastern Wyoming and adjacent Nebraska, but has been found in captive elk in Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Saskatchewan, and South Dakota. What Animals does CWD Effect, and where is this disease Found?

Is CWD a human health hazard? The World Health Organization has said there is no scientific evidence CWD can infect humans. However, WHO also says no part of a deer or elk with evidence of CWD should be eaten by people or other animals. Over 16 years of monitoring in the infected area in Colorado has found no disease in people or cattle living there. Concern hit Europe in the 1990s when scientists linked beef from animals infected with mad cow disease to the spread of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which has killed more than 100 people, mostly in Britain. No cases of mad cow disease have been detected in cattle herds in the United States.

“We’ve examined more than 1,500 animals from throughout the state including Middle and North Park, the Gunnison area, the Uncompahgre Plateau, San Luis Valley the Piceanace Basin, the Colorado Springs and Canon City areas, and other areas in northwestern Colorado over the past four years,” Miller said. “None have been infected with wasting disease.” Chronic wasting disease is a transmissible spongiform encaphelopathy, or TSE, that includes such diseases as scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform enceophalopathy (BSE) in cattle (Mad Cow Disease), Creutzfeld Jacobs Disease (CJD), a rare brain disease in humans, and Kuru once found among New Guinea tribesmen who ate the brains of their dead relatives. Can this disease be spread to our cattle?

In the study conducted by the University of Wyoming, Colorado Division of Wildlife, cattle were inoculated in the mouth or placed near infected animals, a scenario that would replicate nature, Williams said. The animals from the two groups have not shown any indications, although three of 13 cattle inoculated directly in the brain did develop evidence of chronic wasting. "Cattle exposed via more natural routes of exposure have shown no evidence of CWD," Williams said.

What Should Georgia Hunters Do? Wear rubber gloves when field dressing carcasses Bone out the meat from your animal Minimize handling of brain and spinal tissues Wash hands and tools thoroughly after field dressing Avoid consuming brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils and lymph nodes Avoid consuming the meat from any animal that tests positive for the disease Request that your animal is processed individually, without meat from other animals being added to meat from your animal.

HOW DO WE KEEP CWD OUT OF GEORGIA ? Halt importation of all deer species. It is illegal to import white-tailed deer to Georgia. Continue to prohibit canned hunting operations. Prohibit baiting of deer for hunting, which would aid the spread of CWD. Discourage management practices that result in high concentrations of deer over small areas. Examples include supplemental feeding, baiting of deer, and lack of adequate doe harvest.

WHAT HAPPENS IF CWD GETS IN A DEER HERD? The abnormal protein is quite stable and may remain a threat in the soil for years. The only management possibility is complete depopulation of deer in the affected area. This step is underway in parts of Colorado, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.

WHAT YOU CAN DO? Hunters should report any violations of Georgia laws including illegal importation of deer or elk and illegal baiting by calling The Wildlife Resources Division will be asking some hunt clubs for help with preventive surveillance. Please help if contacted by an agency biologist.

GON is offering a $1,000 reward for information on illegal transporting of deer into the state of Georgia.

The End