Through rapid and effective quarantines and destruction of infected deer, New York State snuffed out Chronic Wasting Disease which had been discovered in the State in 2005............As a result, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire herds have been spared contamination

CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE STOPPED IN NEW ENGLAND
by Madeline Bodin

 

Five years ago, chronic wasting disease (CWD) was spreading across North America like wildfire. It leapt from its stronghold in the Rocky Mountain states across the Mississippi River to Wisconsin in 2002. It was discovered in New York State in 2005. It seemed inevitable that it would continue its journey east, and that deer in New England would be the next to succumb.

But the last five years have been quiet. Not only has CWD not advanced into New England, it seems to have retreated from New York. Does this mean the threat is over? Or is this the calm before the storm?

The main symptom of CWD is weight loss. The deer waste away, giving the disease its name. In addition, the deer may also hang their heads, lack energy, and walk the same path over and over.
CWD is transmitted from deer to deer in two ways. The first is by eating the urine or feces of other deer, which happens because deer both defecate on the ground and eat from it, especially in areas where people feed them. The second is through nose-to-nose contact, which occurs naturally during mating and between does and their fawns.

When CWD strikes, deer die. When CWD takes hold in a region, deer continue to die in large numbers year after year. There is no cure, no treatment, no vaccine. CWD was first identified in 1967, but at first it was only a disease of captive herds. It wasn't found in the wild until 1981. In April 2005, routine testing in New York State found CWD in five deer at two captive deer operations in Oneida County. Further testing found that two wild deer in the area also had CWD. The disease was knocking at our door. It seemed inevitable that it would spread to Vermont and New Hampshire.

CWD would be devastating to Vermont's deer population, says Shawn Haskell, deer project leader for the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. While there is some indication that Midwestern states with large deer populations have been able to weather CWD outbreaks, Vermont would, in all likelihood, have a much harder time. "We manage our deer herd with a scalpel," Haskell says. "The Vermont deer herd simply can't afford another source of mortality."

But fortunately, New York State acted quickly. The infected captive herds were destroyed, and a containment area was set up. Within the containment area, all hunted deer were tested for CWD, and only de-boned deer meat could be removed from the area. New York has tested about 30,000 deer statewide since 2005 and has not found CWD again.

Meanwhile, Vermont and New Hampshire had introduced new rules to curb the spread of CWD, including forbidding the import of captive deer from the 19 states and Canadian provinces known to have CWD and allowing only de-boned deer meat from known CWD regions. New Hampshire discourages people from feeding wild deer. Vermont prohibits baiting or feeding wild deer and asks hunters not to use urine-based deer lures, which may spread CWD.

New Hampshire will test about 400 deer for CWD this year, as it has every year since 2002, says Kent Gustafson, deer project leader for the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. That's the number suggested by U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, he notes. Samples are taken from deer heads discarded after hunting season at the state's dozen or so meat processors. Results for 2010 won't be available until the spring, but CWD has never been detected in the state.

Vermont no longer randomly samples wild deer, says Haskell. Sampling 3,400 deer since 2003 and finding no CWD gives a 99 percent probability that the state is CWD free, he says. With that baseline established, a recent study shows that it is more effective just to sample any deer that look sick, he says. There are about 15 of those killed each year by hunters, he adds.

Haskell and Gustafson hope that CWD has been cleared from New York State. If that is so, the nearest infected site is Virginia, near its border with Maryland. If the disease travels only naturally, from wild deer to wild deer, it could take a century to reach Vermont, Haskell estimates.

If CWD reaches our area sooner, it will likely be through an illegally transported captive deer, an infected carcass, or hunting products that use urine, he says. Haskell believes that the people who should know the laws that protect Vermont's deer herd from CWD do know them and are following them. For now, thanks to the fast action of our New York neighbors, and the law-abiding citizens of our two states, CWD is not an immediate threat to deer and moose in our area. We're not in the calm before the storm. More likely, we're in the calm between storms.