CWD killing reindeer and moose in Norway

[Ola]

Chronic wasting disease is now in Europe. In Norway, not so far away from here. What we should expect? Is it going to spread fast or what? Is it going to kill all the moose, reindeer, roedeer and white-tails (we have tens of thousands of white tails here in Finland).


http://www.atl.nu/skog/flera-fall-av-cwd-i-norge/

[randyrat]

We have it here in Wisconsin, US and it's been here for a while and I have not noticed any change in flavor of meat. I changed the way i butcher my Deer, I don't use a saw anymore, just cut the whole deer using a 6" knife..that way I'm not cutting into any of the bones or spinal cord.

I don't think it will wipe the heard out, I hope not. we still have an abundance of White Tail Deer. I believe it has been in the Western States for years..It will encourage more laws against feeding or baiting, to prevent herding the animals closer together, some animals do it naturally.

I can't read Norwegian, Sweedish but it looks like they are cutting some really tall Alfalfa?

[richhodg66]

All the emphasis on CWD seems to have died down here in the past few years. Everybody was real concerned about it, especially in Wisconsin, but the state department of wild life here had everybody fill out forms for deer they brought to processors and the Kansas State Veteranary school did brain samples of all of them to check for it. They stopped doing it a couple of years ago and I've hardly heard of CWD since.

[winelover]

Started showing up in NW Arkansas this past Spring in whitetails and our small elk herd, in about five Counties. The Arkansas Game Commission has been testing road kills and holding special hunts to determine it's spread. Was an article in the newspaper, the other day, that looked promising. No other animals, tested lately, had the disease. They will continue monitoring, though. Archery season, starts the end of this month.

Winelover

[Ola]

I can't read Norwegian, Sweedish ...

It's from a Swedish newspaper. Google translate:

The disease, which is known as a prion disease in which a type of protein is not broken down, but causes including neurological damage, is not uncommon in North America. But this year, the disease first occurred in Europe and then in Norway.
So far, four reindeer and elk found to have died of Chronic Wasting Disease in Norway. There have been suspicions that the disease, which primarily affects deer, also reached Sweden. But after analysis of Värmland elk found dead could the National Veterinary Institute conclude that CWD was not the cause of death.
Swedish hunters have, however, been invited to the suspected cases to submit samples, and particularly from animal brains for analysis.

[MT Gianni]

In MT a few years back we were advised to take care in skinning and gutting to ensure not open sores or cuts on your hands contacted animals. We were also told to not eat brain tissue.

[Ola]

So you guys are saying that this is not going to be a disaster for us?

[longranger]

If your native species populations are healthy the impact will be minimal to minor.If they are compromised by some other stressor could be devastating.Some game agencies adjust their tag numbers to adjust population of a the given species.We have it here in Wyoming I have barely noticed any decline in numbers of deer,elk are at all times highs.Mule Deer are rebounding with the highest #'s surveyed in years.DFG has also cut the # of days for hunting them as well.
These two were killed not far from here last year.What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

[osteodoc08]

There are several prion diseases. Some in humans including Creutzfeldt Jakob disease. Thankfully it is fairly rare. Take care handling your harvest and submit samples as needed.

[kodiak1]

We have had it found in animals along the Alberta Saskatchewan border here in Canada. Our Government went and killed about 10,000 Muley and White Tail and sampled their finds it was less than 0.25% of the animals that had it. The government decimated the game numbers in those Hunting Units that they did the sampling in and we are still seeing the effects years later.
Moral of the story Government worse that the Disease!!!!

[xs11jack]

Is this something like the Mad Cow Disease that was in the news several years ago?? And what did happen to MCD, I haven't heard anything in the news for a long time. And lastly is there a cure for it?
Ole Jack

[Moleman-]

I would like more and better testing of coyotes and other predators in CWD areas. I've read it can't cross species and at the same time that they're not positive that it can't, so take precautions. The area my sisters farm is located in Wisconsin was/is near a CWD hotspot back 10-15 years ago or so. At one point the DNR would give you as many deer tags as you wanted. One year the game warden came by her house and asked if she had someone to hunt her land (me!), then gave her 15-20 tags for 55 acres and told her he'd drop off more if she ran out. I shot two that year, but others shot every one they saw which greatly effected the number of deer we saw for years.

[BrassMagnet]

I really hate to post in this thread!

Years ago, I did a lot of reading on Mad Cow and Nv Creuzfeld Jakob disease. I have also personally talked to biologists investigating CWD in Colorado.
I also knew a lady many years ago that died of Nv Creuzfeld Jakob disease. She had never left the USA!

I read a really great article on the path from cannibalism to Nv Creuzfeld Jakob disease/prion diseases such as Mad Cow. I can not find that article again. The essence of the article was human cannibals can, and very likely will, catch Nv Creuzfeld Jakob disease from eating people with Nv Creuzfeld Jakob disease.

Per the article I read, Mad Cow in Britain was traced to an Antelope from Montana which died in Britain. The Antelope was rendered, turned into cattle feed, and fed to a small dairy cow herd. The small dairy cow herd got sick, was rendered and fed to a large dairy cow herd. Somewhere along the line some of the infected cows were turned into hamburger and people got the human version of Mad Cow, Nv Creuzfeld Jakob disease.

Here is a 253 page essay on Mad Cow in pdf format. I haven't read it all, but the portion on Mad Cow in England covers part of the story of rendering dead/sick animals into animal feed. Prions are also immune to destruction by cooking or burning. Here is a link:

http://www.srwolf.com/reports/mcusa.pdf

The biologist I talked to believed the disease was passed on in the wild through animals urinating on grass and then other animals consuming the grass. He was trying to stop the disease from spreading from a private game farm with CWD sick animals and wanted to use helicopters to shoot all of the wild deer within five miles. I told him who to call to issue a NOTAM.

[bayjoe]

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/sa_alternate_livestock/sa_cervid_health/sa_cwd/ct_cwd_index

Here is a link that will give you a little information on CWD. Do NOT eat or handle the brain, spinal column or the intestines.
Central Nervous System symptoms in progressive animals is very apparent. Most hunters I know would not eat this type of animal, they would more than likely put it out of it's misery. Horrible way to die, basically the prion eats holes in your brain till it looks like swiss cheese.
All research to date has not found this particular prion transfers to other species specifically predators.
USDA/Wildlife Services has all kinds of information on this. Last know reported case was a deer on the Western slope of Colorado earlier this year.

[xs11jack]

Thanks BrassMagnet, I will read this over the weekend.
Ole Jack

[Plate plinker]

So you guys are saying that this is not going to be a disaster for us?
Probably not.

[BrassMagnet]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/images/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by Ola http://castboolits.gunloads.com/images/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?p=3768416#post3768416)

So you guys are saying that this is not going to be a disaster for us?


http://castboolits.gunloads.com/images/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by Plate plinker (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?23909-Plate-plinker) http://castboolits.gunloads.com/images/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?p=3768416#post3768416)


Probably not.


Posted by BrassMagnet

I suspect the true reality is this is a disaster which is present in many areas without being noticed!
It has likely been in Colorado for over a hundred years. Harvest and eat only healthy appearing animals.
As usual, gov't can interfere and/or mismanage and turn a disaster into a total disaster.

[GaryN]

We have it here in Utah also. If you go to this site:http://wildlife.utah.gov/diseases/cwd/
you can see what Utah is doing. I know it has been around for at least 50 years. On the other hand I have not heard of moose getting it. Moose have their own problems. Their is some kind of disease that has been killing them in Utah and in the upper midwest. I am not well informed on the subject so will refrain from comment.

[johnson1942]

i feel sad for the saami who live on the meat that is infected. i am a saami american and my people in northern norway will be hurt by this thing infecting their animals.

[Ola]

Well, to be honest.. NO ONE in Norway will be REALLY affected by this. Norway is a very rich country that can take care of everyone. They just pump more oil and they have the funds to do it. They have billions and billions of dollars.

[jaysouth]

Is this something like the Mad Cow Disease that was in the news several years ago?? And what did happen to MCD, I haven't heard anything in the news for a long time. And lastly is there a cure for it?
Ole Jack

Except for Hillary Cliinton, I haven't seen any.

[GhostHawk]

Nature has its own ways of balancing things. Growing up there were big jackrabbits everywhere. Every square mile had its dozen. Then disease moved in and in a year there was maybe 1 rabbit for a dozen square miles. Took a long time coming back, new farming practices including anhydrous ammonia for fertilizer did not help. But they are spreading back out again.

When you have a specific disease I think it tends to spread until it reaches a gap in the population. Like a firebreak. A big prairie grass fire can run for many miles with a little wind behind it until it reaches a big enough firebreak to stop it.

Not much you can do about it other than thin the herd as much as you can legally before it reaches you.
And try to find an area that still has deer once it does.

[Ola]

One way to stop spreading is not chasing the animals around. F.e. in Estonia African swine fever ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_swine_fever_virus ) did not spread to certain areas because hunters stopped driven hunts. They only shot the wild boars at feeding places. The boars stayed in one place and were not in contact with other boars.

Then NATO had it's military exercises at the wrong place and scared the animals. The boars with the virus fled to areas that had been spared. Now the decease is everywhere killing almost all wild boars.

[jonp]

Last I remember studying of it in college it was a disease of both Cervus sp. and Odocoileus sp. spred orally through feces. How did it get to Europe?

[dragon813gt]

It popped up in PA a few years back. They expanded the effected area this year. Transporting deer from the west into high fenced areas here is the cause of it, I think. I don't rely on venison to feed my family. But it sure keeps the grocery bills lower. To say I will be mad, if this becomes an issue because someone w/ to much money wanted to shoot a deer in a fenced area, is an understatement.

At this time the effected area is rather small and not near me. I hope it stays that way. If it reaches the south east the herds will be effected because they are very large and in close proximity to each other.

[Ola]

Last I remember studying of it in college it was a disease of both Cervus sp. and Odocoileus sp. spred orally through feces. How did it get to Europe?

I do not know. Maybe some Norwegian or a Swede is reading this and can tell you more.

But "orally through feces" might be some kind of a clue.. someone came from North America and had some **** in his boots?