Chronic Wasting Disease: The Silent Assassin Chronic Wasting Disease, also known as (CWD) kills herds of deer by the hundreds. As of right now, it is a guaranteed death for any animal that contracts the disease. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) started monitoring the white tail deer population in the fall of 1999. They came across there first CWD positive deer in November 2001 when they were testing harvested deer. The location where the deer was shot is unknown. (DNR.wi.gov 1) CWD is a deadly disease eliminating deer by eating away at their brain; there needs to be proper funding to get this awful disease to a manageable point.
The origins of Chronic Wasting Disease are heavily debated. According to Julie Widholm, a …show more content…
Animals, specifically cervid family members, are so susceptible to this disease because it is spread through feeding. Mrs. Kelly VanBleek, another CWD biologist for the Wisconsin DNR, said that when you see a dead carcass of a deer that tested positive for CWD, “It looks like a victim that was in Nazi Germany during World War II”. Mrs. Van Bleek also said, “In the most extreme cases of Chronic Wasting Disease, deer will grow black spots on their hide. We (DNR) have only seen the spots on pictures and never actually on a carcass. It is something we are trying to figure out, hopefully sooner rather than later.” However, in most cases it is difficult to tell if an animal has CWD. A deer can carry the disease for over a year before they appear sick. There is currently no conclusive test that can be done on live animals, but scientists are working on developing a reliable live test. Currently, the only way to know if a deer is positive is to test brain, tonsils or lymph nodes after death. In Wisconsin the primarily test lymph nodes (Marien par, 2). A deer may show signs of CWD later in the disease progression. These deer are usually very skinny, drool, and show behavioral changes such as not being afraid of humans. However, these signs alone are not enough to diagnose a deer as having CWD. Most of the deer that test positive in Wisconsin appeared healthy. Many people wonder how a deer is tested for CWD. Julie Widholm had the …show more content…
Wisconsin took an extremely passive approach. The state now merely monitors for the disease instead of trying to control it (Durkin par, 5). If test results from the Dairy State’s 2014 hunting seasons mean anything, the passive approach is making things worse. Despite sampling the second-lowest number of deer in Wisconsin’s 14-year monitoring program, the DNR documented a record 6.1 percent disease rate in 2014. In real numbers, 329 of 5,414 whitetail deer tested positive for the disease. That marked the third straight year Wisconsin’s CWD rate exceeded 5 percent of tested deer, as well as the third straight year that sick deer exceeded 325. (Durkin par,6). Among male yearlings, the rate is about 7%, compared with about 2% in 2002. Among female yearlings, the rate is about 6%, compared with about 2% in 2002 (Burbquist par, 10). If these statistics are not enough information to prove we need more funding to find a cure for this disease, here is another mind blowing stat, as of April 2015, CWD has been found in wild deer in Texas, Utah, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, as well as Alberta and Saskatchewan. It has also been found in fenced game farms in most of
The origins of Chronic Wasting Disease are heavily debated. According to Julie Widholm, a …show more content…
Animals, specifically cervid family members, are so susceptible to this disease because it is spread through feeding. Mrs. Kelly VanBleek, another CWD biologist for the Wisconsin DNR, said that when you see a dead carcass of a deer that tested positive for CWD, “It looks like a victim that was in Nazi Germany during World War II”. Mrs. Van Bleek also said, “In the most extreme cases of Chronic Wasting Disease, deer will grow black spots on their hide. We (DNR) have only seen the spots on pictures and never actually on a carcass. It is something we are trying to figure out, hopefully sooner rather than later.” However, in most cases it is difficult to tell if an animal has CWD. A deer can carry the disease for over a year before they appear sick. There is currently no conclusive test that can be done on live animals, but scientists are working on developing a reliable live test. Currently, the only way to know if a deer is positive is to test brain, tonsils or lymph nodes after death. In Wisconsin the primarily test lymph nodes (Marien par, 2). A deer may show signs of CWD later in the disease progression. These deer are usually very skinny, drool, and show behavioral changes such as not being afraid of humans. However, these signs alone are not enough to diagnose a deer as having CWD. Most of the deer that test positive in Wisconsin appeared healthy. Many people wonder how a deer is tested for CWD. Julie Widholm had the …show more content…
Wisconsin took an extremely passive approach. The state now merely monitors for the disease instead of trying to control it (Durkin par, 5). If test results from the Dairy State’s 2014 hunting seasons mean anything, the passive approach is making things worse. Despite sampling the second-lowest number of deer in Wisconsin’s 14-year monitoring program, the DNR documented a record 6.1 percent disease rate in 2014. In real numbers, 329 of 5,414 whitetail deer tested positive for the disease. That marked the third straight year Wisconsin’s CWD rate exceeded 5 percent of tested deer, as well as the third straight year that sick deer exceeded 325. (Durkin par,6). Among male yearlings, the rate is about 7%, compared with about 2% in 2002. Among female yearlings, the rate is about 6%, compared with about 2% in 2002 (Burbquist par, 10). If these statistics are not enough information to prove we need more funding to find a cure for this disease, here is another mind blowing stat, as of April 2015, CWD has been found in wild deer in Texas, Utah, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, as well as Alberta and Saskatchewan. It has also been found in fenced game farms in most of