CWD DETECTED IN DEER HUNT AREA 2 NORTH OF SUNDANCE

12/10/2008

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was found in deer hunt area 2 north of Sundance when a mule deer buck harvested Nov. 28 about 7 miles south of Devil's Tower tested positive for the disease.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department recommends that hunters taking elk or deer in this area transport only the following items: cut and wrapped meat, boned meat, animal quarters or other pieces with no portion of the spinal column or head attached, hides without the head, cleaned skull plates (no meat or nervous tissue attached), antlers with no meat or other tissue attached. The head, spine, and other nervous tissue should be left at the site of the kill or disposed of in an approved landfill. Rubber or latex gloves should be worn when field dressing any animal and during butchering.

CWD has been diagnosed in some wild deer, elk and moose in 10 states and two Canadian provinces. After a review of available scientific data, the World Health Organization in December 1999 stated, "There is currently no evidence that CWD in cervidae (deer and elk) is transmitted to humans." In 2004, Dr. Ermias Belay of the Center for Disease Control said, "The lack of evidence of a link between CWD transmission and unusual cases of CJD, (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a human prion disease) despite several epidemiological investigations, suggest that the risk, if any, of transmission of CWD to humans is low."  Nonetheless to avoid risk, both organizations say parts or products from any animal that looks sick and/or tests positive for CWD should not be eaten.

For more information on chronic wasting disease visit the Game and Fish CWD Web site.

-WGFD-