Officials Work To Combat Chronic Wasting Disease In Game Animals

By Tom Knighton

Chronic wasting disease is becoming a serious problem for state game officials throughout the nation, to say nothing of troubling hunters. The condition is easily transmittable among game populations and the results aren’t good.

In places where the disease is a problem, officials are working to combat it. But first, they need to test for it.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists have stepped up testing for chronic wasting disease on deer and elk carcasses taken by hunters.

Montana also has stepped up monitoring this year as the contagious neurological disease that causes elk and deer to lose weight and eventually die has been found in pockets of the country from central Pennsylvania to the Mountain West.

A chronic wasting disease sample collected by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in late October from a hunter-killed mule deer south of Billings was found to be suspect for chronic wasting disease, the agency reported on Wednesday.

No cases have been reported in Oregon or Washington, but Greg Jackle, an ODFW biologist based in Prineville, said the disease can spread easily, and the department isn’t taking chances.

“The moment we start not sampling (deer and elk) at the highest rate, that’s when you miss something,” …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms