MDIFW: Maine Deer Test Negative for Incurable Disease
OutdoorHub 07.26.12
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife received good news when recent test results showed no trace of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in hundreds of white-tailed deer killed during the 2011 hunting season.
CWD is a fatal disease that causes irreversible damage to the brain tissue of infected animals and is known to occur in deer, moose and elk while other cervids such as red deer, fallow deer, sika deer and caribou are also susceptible.
Since 1999, the Department has monitored and tested for the presence of CWD in more than 8,100 deer and several moose, all which have tested negative.
This year, the Department tested 702 white-tailed deer as well as one moose that was euthanized by the Warden Service.
“Keeping CWD out of Maine is critical to the health and productivity of our deer and moose populations,” said Lee Kantar, a deer and moose biologist at the Department. “There is still no presence of CWD in Maine and we have to remain vigilant to make sure it stays that way.”
CWD is one of a group of diseases known as Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs), which also include Scrapie in sheep, Mad Cow Disease in cattle, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in humans.
The disease has been found in many states and provinces and has occurred as closely as New York State and West Virginia and was found for the first time this year in deer from Texas and Iowa.
If CWD emerges in Maine, it could seriously reduce infected deer populations by lowering adult survival and destabilizing populations.
Monitoring and controlling CWD is extremely costly. The common practice once CWD is discovered is to reduce deer densities in the infected area to as low a density as possible.
“This action is of course necessary to prevent the spread of the disease, but at the same time wasteful of a great wildlife resource,” Kantar said. “Such an action would not only affect the deer, but the people who enjoy seeing and hunting deer, and the livelihoods of the merchants, guides, and camp owners who cater to outdoor enthusiasts.”
The most likely route that CWD would enter the state would be from deer or other cervids that were shot in jurisdictions infected with CWD and brought back either whole or improperly dressed-out into Maine.
In 2011, six whole white-tailed deer carcasses killed in New York, New Jersey and Virginia were illegally brought into Maine but fortunately tested negative for the disease.
To continue to protect Maine from CWD, sportsmen and women are reminded that it is illegal for hunters who hunt or kill a deer, elk, moose or caribou in another state or province to transport any carcass parts that pose a risk of containing CWD prions back into Maine, with the exception of New Hampshire, Quebec, New Brunswick or Newfoundland.
Hunters may return to Maine only with boned-out meat, hardened antlers with or without skull caps, hides without the head portion, and finished taxidermy mounts. If still attached, skull caps must be cleaned and free of brain and other tissues.
It is legal for individuals to transport cervid carcasses or parts through the state of Maine if they are destined for other states, provinces, and countries. Transportation is to occur without undue delay and must use the most reasonably direct route through Maine to the final destination. Cervid carcasses or parts must be transported in a manner that is both leak-proof and that prevents their exposure to the environment.
If you plan to hunt deer, moose, elk or caribou in a state or province known or suspected to harbor CWD there are some common sense precautions you should take to avoid handling, transporting, or consuming potentially CWD-infected specimens. To view these precautions, visit our web site at www.mefishwildlife.com.
