Mr. Colvin reported to the Council on the worrisome detection of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in several deer from upstate New York.  CWD is a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE), which is a prion disease that appears only in members of the cervid family.  It had not been discovered east of the Mississippi until 5 years ago.   Like other TSE’s, CWD is always fatal.  Its mode of transference is unknown and uncertain.  The disease is very difficult to diagnose; the central nervous system must be tested, which can only be done once the deer has been killed.  By the time external symptoms are evident, mortality is very close.  When CWD was discovered in Wisconsin approximately 4 years ago, commercial trafficking of live deer was prohibited, along with feeding of wild deer.  Anything that might promote the transmission of this disease was restricted.   CWD was discovered in two private deer herds in central New York; the herds were less than two miles apart.  Live animals had been shipped from both herds to other locations (often, private game farms) and the Department is trying to ascertain how many animals were shipped from these herds and where.

 

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