Concern over outbreak of chronic wasting disease in deer

May 8 2005

Another wild deer in New York state has tested positive for chronic wasting disease, (CWD), says the Department of Environmental Conservation. The latest confirmed case was in a 3-year-old doe less than a mile away from Verona where the first case in the wild was identified in a yearling.

The testing of 290 wild deer in Oneida County came after the fatal neurological illness was found in five animals that were part of two captive herds in Westmoreland.

The intensive sampling of wild deer ended Saturday, but state officials said they will continue to test deer from two captive herds directly associated with the herds where the disease was first found.

The emergency regulations currently in place also require samples to be taken from deer killed by hunters or in motor vehicle accidents in a containment area that includes Oneida County and Stockbridge, Lenox and Oneida in Madison County.

A public meeting with state officials is planned for this week in Verona.

CWD has been found in wild and captive deer and elk populations in 12 states in the West and Midwest and although it is deadly to some deer and elk species, there is no evidence that CWD is harmful to humans or other domestic livestock.

Scientists don't know how the disease is transmitted among animals. Symptoms include weight loss, stumbling, tremors, lack of coordination and listlessness.