Wisconsin DNR to Hold CWD Informational Meeting
OutdoorHub 01.29.13
Anyone interested in learning more about the recent discovery of Chronic Wasting Disease in the deer herd in Adams County is invited to attend an informational meeting beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, at the Rome Town Hall.
A panel of experts on wildlife health, wildlife biology and conservation law will give a short presentation and will then answer questions and obtain input from the audience. The Town of Rome municipal building is located 17 miles north of Adams-Friendship at the intersection of State 13 and Alpine Drive (County D).
In December, the state Department of Natural Resources reported that a 3-year-old buck deer harvested in Adams County tested positive for CWD. The infected deer, harvested and volunteered for sampling by an archery hunter, is the first to test positive for CWD in the county. Subsequently, DNR surveillance revealed two more infected deer, one each in the neighboring counties of Juneau and Portage. The three counties lie north of the CWD management zone in south central Wisconsin.
CWD is a nervous system disease of deer, moose, and elk. It belongs to the family of fatal diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases. CWD occurs only in members of the cervid or deer family, both wild and captive. Current information suggests that CWD may be transmitted both directly through animal to animal contact and indirectly from a CWD-prion contaminated environment. Recent studies indicate that CWD prions exist in the saliva, urine, and feces of infected deer.
To learn more about CWD, visit the department’s website and enter the search keyword CWD, then click on “Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Wisconsin’s Wild White-tailed Deer.”
