CWD confirmed in four more deer at local game preserves

(Harrisburg) – Four more captive deer have tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease in south-central Pennsylvania.

The disease was confirmed in three white-tailed deer on a hunting preserve in Franklin County and one on a Fulton County hunting preserve, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Both preserves were under quarantine for the disease due to prior positive test results. All four deer were born and raised on the Fulton County farm.

The deer were tested as required by mandatory herd surveillance on CWD-quarantined premises. Deer cannot be moved to or from the properties without permission from the state agriculture department.

With the announcement on Friday, 44 captive deer have been confirmed to have CWD since the disease was discovered in Pennsylvania in 2012.

Hunters in Fulton and Franklin counties this year are hunting in Disease Management Area 2 for the first time. DMA 2 also includes parts of Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Clearfield, Cumberland, Huntingdon and Somerset counties. High risk parts of a deer carcass — such as the skull, spine or upper canine teeth — cannot be taken from a DMA. DMA rules prohibit feeding deer and using urine-based lures.

The Game Commission has been testing wild deer taken in DMA 2 for CWD for free, but test results may take weeks. Deer hunting returns statewide on Dec. 26, when the flintlock muzzleloader and late archery seasons kick off. The seasons run until Jan. 13.

Three deer taken in DMA 2 during 2017 early archery season tested positive for CWD, according to Robert Einodshofer, information officer with the state Game Commission.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no strong evidence that humans or livestock can contract Chronic Wasting Disease.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission does not recommend eating meat from deer having CWD.

CWD attacks the brain of infected deer, elk and moose, producing small lesions that eventually result in death. Animals can get the disease through direct contact with saliva, feces and urine from an infected animal or contaminated environment.

The first cases of CWD in Pennsylvania were detected in white-tailed deer that died in 2012 on an Adams County deer farm, and in wild, white-tailed deer in Blair and Bedford counties.

Since 1998, accredited veterinarians and certified CWD technicians have tested 27,000 captive deer in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Game Commission collects samples from hunter-harvested deer and elk and wild deer that appear sick or behave abnormally.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture coordinates a mandatory CWD surveillance program for the 21,000 captive deer on 1,000 breeding farms, hobby farms and hunting preserves across the state.

The most recent positives were tested at the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory in Harrisburg and confirmed at National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa.

Clinical signs include weight loss, excessive salivation, increased drinking and urination, and abnormal behavior like stumbling, trembling and depression. Infected deer and elk may also allow unusually close approach by humans or natural predators. The disease is fatal and there is no known treatment or vaccine.

The infectious agent, known as a prion, tends to concentrate in the brain, spinal column, eyes, spleen, and lymph nodes. These high-risk parts must be properly handled and disposed of at the harvest location to prevent disease spread. Low-risk parts such as deboned meat, clean skull caps and capes present little risk and may be taken home.

Find more information about Pennsylvania’s program to hinder the spread of CWD, and the department’s broader efforts to safeguard animal health at agriculture.pa.gov.

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The Chambersburg Public Opinion.