What is it?
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological disease found in deer and elk. It belongs to a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies or prion diseases. The disease attacks the brains of infected deer and elk, causing the animals to become emaciated, display abnormal behavior, lose bodily functions and die. Besides being found in wild deer and elk, the disease has been found in captive deer and elk in six states and two Canadian provinces.
Public Health Issues
Epidemiologists with the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and epidemiologists at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment have studied chronic wasting disease and found no link between it and any neurological disease that affects humans.
Health officials, however, advise hunters not to consume meat from animals known to be infected with the disease. In addition, they suggest hunters take simple precautions (see below) when field dressing deer or elk taken in areas where the disease is found.
Where is the Disease Found?
Ongoing surveillance conducted by the Colorado Division of Wildlife indicates that chronic wasting disease (CWD) is found in wild deer and elk herds in northeastern Colorado and in wild mule deer in a portion of Routt County in the northwest part of the state. The disease has also been found in wild deer in parts of Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin, and it's been found in captive deer and elk in six states and two Canadian provinces.
Since 1996, the Division, in cooperation with the University of Wyoming and Colorado State University, has examined more than 2,000 animals from throughout Colorado, including each of the large mule deer herds on the Western Slope. With the exception of the Routt County outbreak, none have been infected with CWD.
In addition to this statewide sampling, the Division also has examined more than 10,000 deer and elk harvested or culled in northeastern Colorado; estimated infection rates in deer harvested from this area in 2000 ranged from less than one percent to 11 percent. In northeastern Colorado, chronic wasting disease is found in 18 game management units. These units cover approximately 10,000 square miles, about 10 percent of Colorado's entire land mass. Infection rates in the endemic area vary between location, herds and species.
Chronic wasting disease is far less prevalent in elk than deer. Less than 1 percent of elk in the endemic area have been found to be infected. Infection rates in deer herds vary from less than one percent to 13 percent.
Simple Precautions Advised
Public health officials advise hunters to take the following precautions when pursuing or handling deer and elk in infected units:
• Do not shoot, handle or consume any animal that appears sick; contact the Division of Wildlife in Fort Collins at (970) 472-4300 if you see or harvest an animal that appears sick.
• Wear rubber gloves when field dressing carcasses.
• Bone out the meat from your animal.
• Minimize the handling of brain and spinal tissues.
• Wash hands and instruments thoroughly after field dressing is completed.
• Avoid consuming brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils and lymph nodes of harvested animals. (Normal field dressing coupled with boning out a carcass will remove most, if not all, of these body parts. Cutting away all fatty tissue will remove remaining 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.
What Portions Of Deer And Elk Should Be Consumed?
Strong evidence suggests that abnormally shaped proteins, called prions, cause chronic wasting disease in deer and elk. Research indicates that the prions naturally accumulate in certain parts of infected animals -- the brain, eyes, spinal cord, lymph nodes, tonsils, pancreas and spleen. Research to date also indicates that the prions do not accumulate in muscle tissue of deer and elk, thus hunters are advised to bone out their meat and consume only muscle tissue of deer and elk killed in infected units.
Chronic Wasting Disease Testing
Several opportunities exist during big game seasons for hunters to learn if their animals are infected with chronic wasting disease. As part of its ongoing monitoring program, the Division of Wildlife will sample deer in certain game management units to track disease prevalence and trends. The monitoring program is designed as a continuing scientific study. However, hunters who participate in the program by submitting heads of harvested deer for testing will be notified if their deer or elk is infected with chronic wasting disease. Participation in the Division of Wildlife’s monitoring program is voluntary in some units and mandatory in others. Hunters in selected units will be notified by mail prior to the hunting seasons with details on participation and drop-off sites in their hunting area. Ten weeks or more may be required to complete testing before a hunter is notified of results, depending on laboratory capacity and number of samples being processed.
Hunters pursuing game in units not included in the Division’s monitoring program can have their animals tested by either the Colorado State University Diagnostic Laboratory or the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory. You may contact either laboratory directly for testing details and fee information:
• Colorado State University Diagnostic Lab (970) 491-1281
• Wyoming State Veterinary Lab (307) 742-6638
Hunters with deer or elk that test positive for chronic wasting disease -- as indicated by these testing facilities -- will be eligible for a license fee refund.
Information provided by the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Please follow the listed links to get up to date information on the current status of Chronic Wasting Disease in Routt County.
If you have any information to contribute to this portion of the site, please contact The Orton Family Foundation-Community Information System.
Related Links:
Division of Wildlife CWD Site
National Animal Disease Center
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