spectr17
10-22-2002, 12:18 AM
Oct. 19, 2002
Missouri, Kansas aware of chronic wasting disease
BRENT FRAZEE, The Kansas City Star
Chuck Myers will keep a wary eye on the future when he goes deer hunting this fall.
Plenty of whitetails roam the woods at the edge of the Ozarks, where he hunts. But he knows all of that could change if chronic wasting disease would ever make its way into Missouri.
"It's scary for a lot of us deer hunters," said Myers, an avid bow hunter from Greenfield, Mo. "If chronic wasting disease takes hold here, it could decimate our deer herd. It could take it down to the point where there just wouldn't be many deer left.
"It could undo everything the state has done in building our deer numbers to what they are today."
An idle threat? Hardly.
Chronic wasting disease, a fatal affliction that preys on the brain in deer and elk, hasn't hit Missouri yet. And in Kansas, only one case has been documented -- that in a captive elk on a game farm.
But the possibility that it could move into Mid-America and ravage the states' big game herds is definitely on everyone's minds.
Chronic wasting disease has already moved into 10 states and two Canadian provinces. So far, there have been no massive die-offs of deer or elk, as models predict could happen.
But it's the fear of that possibility that scares deer hunters, wildlife biologists and the hunting industry alike.
In Missouri, where deer hunting is king, the stakes are particularly high. More than 400,000 people hunt deer in the state each year and they shoot more than 250,000 whitetails.
The economic impact is staggering. A federal survey showed that deer hunting pumps $807 million into Missouri's economy each year.
In Kansas, where about 90,000 hunters take 100,000 deer each year, it's a $240 million industry.
Given that interest, it's little wonder that hunters and wildlife managers in Missouri and Kansas have their eyes focused on Wisconsin, where the discovery of 24 infected deer in one area prompted an unusual directive this summer.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources established a 374-square-mile "eradication zone," setting out to kill all deer within that area in a desperate attempt to slow the spread of the disease. That effort is still going on.
That incident has riveted the attention of deer hunters throughout the country, including Missouri and Kansas.
The message: If it could happen there, it could happen here.
"I don't think any state in the country could say, `We won't get it,' " said Lonnie Hansen, the deer biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation. "This disease isn't region-specific. It could break out anywhere.
"We've done some testing and we haven't found any cases here yet. But that doesn't mean it couldn't end up here someday."
III
So why all the fear? Mainly because chronic wasting disease is unlike any other affliction wildlife biologists have dealt with in the past.
Since it was first documented in 1967 in deer in northeast Colorado, researchers have learned a lot about the disease. And the findings are sobering.
The disease, which causes degeneration of the brain in deer and elk, is a deadly one. It always results in death of the animal.
And it is highly transmissible, creating the possibility that it could rip through a dense deer or elk herd quickly.
Wildlife biologists and hunters have been lucky so far. The places where chronic wasting disease first was found haven't been areas where big-game animals are densely populated.
But Wisconsin breaks that mold. The hills west of Madison where the disease was found this year are heavily populated with deer. Biologists are watching closely to see how rapidly the disease spreads there.
"Some models suggest that it could bring a deer herd down to zero rather quickly," Hansen said. "Models are models. There are a lot of unknowns.
"But we're taking this threat seriously."
Biologists believe that chronic wasting disease can enter a state through natural movement of herds, the interstate shipment of deer or elk for game farms, or from the carcasses of hunter-killed big-game animals.
Infected deer or elk often display striking symptoms -- extreme weight loss, excessive salivation, stumbling and tremors. But it can take months or even years before those symptoms surface.
That's why many states, Missouri and Kansas included, are testing both healthy-looking and sickly deer that were taken by hunters.
Studies indicate that chronic wasting disease isn't a human health risk. No deaths or illnesses have been linked to chronic wasting disease among the nation's 16 million deer hunters since the disease was discovered more than 30 years ago. However, there is an ongoing investigation of three Wisconsin hunters who died of rare brain diseases after eating deer taken in the area where infected animals have been found.
Still, it has the potential to reach epidemic proportions in states' deer herds. And once it arrives, there is little that can be done to stop it.
About the only way to stem the spread of the disease would be to what do Wisconsin is doing -- try to kill all of the deer in the "hot zone" before they range out and infect others.
"The thing that concerns us is that it's not something that deer herds bounce back from quickly," said Lloyd Fox, a deer biologist for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. "There is evidence that suggests the disease results in a contamination of the area.
"The effects could last for decades."
III
Wildlife officials in Missouri and Kansas are relaying a simple piece of advice to hunters in both states this fall: Don't panic.
They advise hunters that there is no reason to alter their plans or stay out of the woods this fall. Chronic wasting disease has not been found in wild herds in either state. And fears about picking up the disease by either handling or eating tainted venison are unrealistic, they say.
In short, officials are telling hunters to conduct business as usual.
"We have an obligation to inform the public about this disease," Fox said. "But we don't want to trigger a panic.
"The last thing we'd like to see would be for hunters to stay home because they're so concerned about this disease."
Hansen echoes the same thoughts about Missouri hunting.
"Our staff has been getting a lot of calls from hunters wanting to know about chronic wasting," he said. "It's good that they want to be informed.
"Once they learn the facts, they realize that it's safe to go out into the woods this fall."
Hansen doubts that Missouri will lose many deer hunters as a result of the attention given to the disease. Hunting-license sales remain consistent with past years, and Hansen fully expects another crowd to show up for Missouri's popular firearms season in November.
"I'm in contact with a lot of deer hunters and I haven't heard a one tell me that they aren't going out this fall because of chronic wasting disease," said Dale Ream, who keeps the state records for the Missouri Show-Me Big Bucks Club. "It's something we have to keep an eye on, but I don't think it's a real threat at this point."
III
But however much wildlife officials and hunters are trying to maintain a "business-as-usual" approach this fall, the threat of chronic wasting disease will touch Missouri and Kansas this fall.
Both state conservation agencies are advising hunters, first and foremost, to not shoot sickly deer this fall. If they run across a deer in poor condition, they're asked to call that county's agent or regional office immediately. And as a precaution, they're advising hunters to use rubber gloves when field dressing or processing deer.
They're also encouraging hunters who took animals from states where chronic wasting disease had been found to process deer or elk there and transport only boned meat and a cleaned skull plate back to Missouri or Kansas.
Meanwhile, both states will be monitoring for the disease.
Missouri will start a three-year plan to test 30 counties a year. Biologists will collect 200 deer from hunters in each county and will have them tested for chronic wasting disease.
Kansas will do random sampling of some 1,500 deer taken by hunters.
And if the disease is ever discovered here? Well, that's the great unknown.
"It would depend on the situation; how wide-spread it was," Hansen said. "We'd definitely have to take action, but I can't say what that action would be at this point."
Missouri, Kansas aware of chronic wasting disease
BRENT FRAZEE, The Kansas City Star
Chuck Myers will keep a wary eye on the future when he goes deer hunting this fall.
Plenty of whitetails roam the woods at the edge of the Ozarks, where he hunts. But he knows all of that could change if chronic wasting disease would ever make its way into Missouri.
"It's scary for a lot of us deer hunters," said Myers, an avid bow hunter from Greenfield, Mo. "If chronic wasting disease takes hold here, it could decimate our deer herd. It could take it down to the point where there just wouldn't be many deer left.
"It could undo everything the state has done in building our deer numbers to what they are today."
An idle threat? Hardly.
Chronic wasting disease, a fatal affliction that preys on the brain in deer and elk, hasn't hit Missouri yet. And in Kansas, only one case has been documented -- that in a captive elk on a game farm.
But the possibility that it could move into Mid-America and ravage the states' big game herds is definitely on everyone's minds.
Chronic wasting disease has already moved into 10 states and two Canadian provinces. So far, there have been no massive die-offs of deer or elk, as models predict could happen.
But it's the fear of that possibility that scares deer hunters, wildlife biologists and the hunting industry alike.
In Missouri, where deer hunting is king, the stakes are particularly high. More than 400,000 people hunt deer in the state each year and they shoot more than 250,000 whitetails.
The economic impact is staggering. A federal survey showed that deer hunting pumps $807 million into Missouri's economy each year.
In Kansas, where about 90,000 hunters take 100,000 deer each year, it's a $240 million industry.
Given that interest, it's little wonder that hunters and wildlife managers in Missouri and Kansas have their eyes focused on Wisconsin, where the discovery of 24 infected deer in one area prompted an unusual directive this summer.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources established a 374-square-mile "eradication zone," setting out to kill all deer within that area in a desperate attempt to slow the spread of the disease. That effort is still going on.
That incident has riveted the attention of deer hunters throughout the country, including Missouri and Kansas.
The message: If it could happen there, it could happen here.
"I don't think any state in the country could say, `We won't get it,' " said Lonnie Hansen, the deer biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation. "This disease isn't region-specific. It could break out anywhere.
"We've done some testing and we haven't found any cases here yet. But that doesn't mean it couldn't end up here someday."
III
So why all the fear? Mainly because chronic wasting disease is unlike any other affliction wildlife biologists have dealt with in the past.
Since it was first documented in 1967 in deer in northeast Colorado, researchers have learned a lot about the disease. And the findings are sobering.
The disease, which causes degeneration of the brain in deer and elk, is a deadly one. It always results in death of the animal.
And it is highly transmissible, creating the possibility that it could rip through a dense deer or elk herd quickly.
Wildlife biologists and hunters have been lucky so far. The places where chronic wasting disease first was found haven't been areas where big-game animals are densely populated.
But Wisconsin breaks that mold. The hills west of Madison where the disease was found this year are heavily populated with deer. Biologists are watching closely to see how rapidly the disease spreads there.
"Some models suggest that it could bring a deer herd down to zero rather quickly," Hansen said. "Models are models. There are a lot of unknowns.
"But we're taking this threat seriously."
Biologists believe that chronic wasting disease can enter a state through natural movement of herds, the interstate shipment of deer or elk for game farms, or from the carcasses of hunter-killed big-game animals.
Infected deer or elk often display striking symptoms -- extreme weight loss, excessive salivation, stumbling and tremors. But it can take months or even years before those symptoms surface.
That's why many states, Missouri and Kansas included, are testing both healthy-looking and sickly deer that were taken by hunters.
Studies indicate that chronic wasting disease isn't a human health risk. No deaths or illnesses have been linked to chronic wasting disease among the nation's 16 million deer hunters since the disease was discovered more than 30 years ago. However, there is an ongoing investigation of three Wisconsin hunters who died of rare brain diseases after eating deer taken in the area where infected animals have been found.
Still, it has the potential to reach epidemic proportions in states' deer herds. And once it arrives, there is little that can be done to stop it.
About the only way to stem the spread of the disease would be to what do Wisconsin is doing -- try to kill all of the deer in the "hot zone" before they range out and infect others.
"The thing that concerns us is that it's not something that deer herds bounce back from quickly," said Lloyd Fox, a deer biologist for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. "There is evidence that suggests the disease results in a contamination of the area.
"The effects could last for decades."
III
Wildlife officials in Missouri and Kansas are relaying a simple piece of advice to hunters in both states this fall: Don't panic.
They advise hunters that there is no reason to alter their plans or stay out of the woods this fall. Chronic wasting disease has not been found in wild herds in either state. And fears about picking up the disease by either handling or eating tainted venison are unrealistic, they say.
In short, officials are telling hunters to conduct business as usual.
"We have an obligation to inform the public about this disease," Fox said. "But we don't want to trigger a panic.
"The last thing we'd like to see would be for hunters to stay home because they're so concerned about this disease."
Hansen echoes the same thoughts about Missouri hunting.
"Our staff has been getting a lot of calls from hunters wanting to know about chronic wasting," he said. "It's good that they want to be informed.
"Once they learn the facts, they realize that it's safe to go out into the woods this fall."
Hansen doubts that Missouri will lose many deer hunters as a result of the attention given to the disease. Hunting-license sales remain consistent with past years, and Hansen fully expects another crowd to show up for Missouri's popular firearms season in November.
"I'm in contact with a lot of deer hunters and I haven't heard a one tell me that they aren't going out this fall because of chronic wasting disease," said Dale Ream, who keeps the state records for the Missouri Show-Me Big Bucks Club. "It's something we have to keep an eye on, but I don't think it's a real threat at this point."
III
But however much wildlife officials and hunters are trying to maintain a "business-as-usual" approach this fall, the threat of chronic wasting disease will touch Missouri and Kansas this fall.
Both state conservation agencies are advising hunters, first and foremost, to not shoot sickly deer this fall. If they run across a deer in poor condition, they're asked to call that county's agent or regional office immediately. And as a precaution, they're advising hunters to use rubber gloves when field dressing or processing deer.
They're also encouraging hunters who took animals from states where chronic wasting disease had been found to process deer or elk there and transport only boned meat and a cleaned skull plate back to Missouri or Kansas.
Meanwhile, both states will be monitoring for the disease.
Missouri will start a three-year plan to test 30 counties a year. Biologists will collect 200 deer from hunters in each county and will have them tested for chronic wasting disease.
Kansas will do random sampling of some 1,500 deer taken by hunters.
And if the disease is ever discovered here? Well, that's the great unknown.
"It would depend on the situation; how wide-spread it was," Hansen said. "We'd definitely have to take action, but I can't say what that action would be at this point."