CWD found in panhandle whitetail

[Traildust]

Regardless this thread has ZERO to do with deer breeders and per YOUR beliefs it is a direct correlation to the 1967 observation of CWD in Fort Collins @ a research facility. There is CWD positive testing map that confimes it walked to the collection/discovery site or always been there. There for this discovery has nothing to do with deer breeders.

So leave the sky is falling CWD Anti breeder stuff for another thread. Your diversion to it is nothing more then propaganda at this point.

You're 100% sure this deer didnt have any contact with an infected trailered deer? That's just a wag and you know it. What breeder are you affiliated with?

[wytex]

Pretty sure Beth Williams did most of her work in Wyoming, knew her pretty well.

CWD was brought into Wyoming, Sybille Research facility, to study after it was identified and spread from there into our adjacent herds. We have lived with and hunted CWD animals for years, don't panic. The sky is not falling.

Yes we see CWD animals on occasion but over the last 20 years or so have not seen dramatic decrease in populations, elk are way above population objectives in areas directly adjacent to Sybille. We take mule deer and find winterkill and predated deer that are over 8 1/2 years old, tooth aging by G&F lab confirms age, so it won't kill every deer.
Don't eat a sick looking animals , they are obvious when CWD kicks in. It stays in the environment so killing off populations does no good, Colorado proved that.

It will continue to be identified across the country now because it is being tested for.

[Monark]

We killed a doe out of Uvalde just before Christmas. We weren't in the zone but voluntarily stopped in at the Hondo CWD check station. I asked the lady there if they had seen any cases this year. She said 51 deer had tested positive so far. 50 were from high fence. 1 was just outside high fence. All were from inside the zone.

[Traildust]

We killed a doe out of Uvalde just before Christmas. We weren't in the zone but voluntarily stopped in at the Hondo CWD check station. I asked the lady there if they had seen any cases this year. She said 51 deer had tested positive so far. 50 were from high fence. 1 was just outside high fence. All were from inside the zone.

No surprise there. Some on here will say those deer has it before the high fence was built. That one made it out before they slammed the gate!

[Bleu]

The madness with CWD needs to stop. It isnt going to kill all of our deer, well at least mot until the state shows up and does it. The govt has killed more deer trying to control this thing than the disease itself. Let this stuff sit and do its thing for awhile and then reevaluate at that time. CWD has been in Colorado for 50+ years and they still have healthy herds of deer and elk


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

CWD is a TSE (transmissible spongiform encephalopathy). Basically meaning, that the entire deer family is exposed to a brain eating prion that is both directly and indirectly transmissible between animals.

We have let CWD "do its thing for awhile", 50+ yrs as stated by you, and the link below will show how it has spread.

https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/cwd-map-march-2017

This is a disease that a deer can carry for +/- 2yrs and never show a symptom. All the while passing it along to other deer.

Its not "madness" you're seeing. Its aggressive concern. There are those that simply want to know more. Until they do, they don't want the disease spread any further.

Speaking of madness though, you may remember another TSE known as BSE (mad cow disease)...

[Texans42]

You're 100% sure this deer didnt have any contact with an infected trailered deer? That's just a wag and you know it. What breeder are you affiliated with?

None, I manage farming(to clarify since you have a deer farming obsession-corn, wheat, alfalfa, milo) on 34 sections north of the discovery site. You obviously haven’t spent much time in Dalhart.

[Aggie PhD]

We killed a doe out of Uvalde just before Christmas. We weren't in the zone but voluntarily stopped in at the Hondo CWD check station. I asked the lady there if they had seen any cases this year. She said 51 deer had tested positive so far. 50 were from high fence. 1 was just outside high fence. All were from inside the zone.

We hunt within the newly expanded zone. So this year we had to check all of our deer. One of the biologists that was staffing the check station was one of my students in grad school. So we had a good discussion about CWD. And yes most of the positives in the state have come from deer pens.

After discussing with the biologist, he suggested I stop back by when the TPWD veterinarian was there. And we talked for 20-30 minutes about it. He told me of some resources from the most recent prion symposium (held in Wisconsin I think). And this symposium was not all CWD, it related to all prion diseases and research. Granted I have not had adequate time to sit down and access the resources. So I will be the first to admit that I have not fully researched the most up to date knowledge about CWD and prions.

With that a couple comments/observations:
1) there is a difference between deer pens and high fence deer, just based upon deer density, proximity to other individuals, and the rates of disease transmission between these two scenarios. Think of it as flu season where you are with 15 people in a crowded elevator with a disease carrier or you are at the deer lease with 15 people on 100 acres. On both places there is a disease carrier, but the likelihood of getting sick is higher in the confined space because of increased exposure and contact to infectious fluids

2) Prion proteins are well conserved across mammals and are similar, but are not the same. Think chimps and humans. They are both mammals and are 95% the same but are different.

Now this protein is naturally found in every deer, cow, human you see. It functions in a wide array of normal biological functions. It is when the protein misfolds into a the infectious form that it is a problem. Think of the prion protein as a sheet of paper. Normally it is folded into a paper airplane and is cute and fun to play with. Then some jerk takes your piece of paper and crumples it up into a ball. This crumpled ball can then crumple the airplanes into balls if it comes into contact with it.

Now if the crumpled ball (infectious prion) is laying in the corner of the room all by itself, then it isn't doing any harm. But when it gets on the teachers desk and starts crumpling up all of the other papers and subsequently drives the teacher crazy (i.e. a deer with symptoms of CWD) you have a problem.


3) Was the first origin of CWD in the deer pens in Colorado? who the heck knows and it is likely that you can't prove it. Has the release of infected deer and deer in pens increased the prevalence of CWD? Probably.

My assumption is that there is a low level of infectious prion in free range deer. You must remember that these deer need to fight nature daily. And if they are compromised/hindered by a disease (i.e. CWD, EHD, ingestion of pea gravel) they are less likely to survive predators or other things that will kill them (cars, fences, etc)


Apologies for the diatribe, my stress level is raised a little with work.

[Traildust]

None, I manage farming(to clarify since you have a deer farming obsession-corn, wheat, alfalfa, milo) on 34 sections north of the discovery site. You obviously haven’t spent much time in Dalhart.

No obsession. ...just about conservation.

I only pizz'd there once driving thru. Beautiful country

[Take Dead Aim]

I wasn't aware cwd effected cattle?

You are absolutely right about the exotics, many of the places who buy the trailered deer release them in areas that contain exotics. All the better reason to stop the human movement of infected animals.

Why chance it? Over 1300 breeder operations in Texas. That would take a ton of resources for regulation. You cant trust the farmers to do it.

All of the hill country is covered in free ranging exotics. You really are missing the big picture. As far as my cattle example no one knows if cattle are infected. That was my point about all of this is we really know very little about CWD.

[Texans42]

No obsession. ...just about conservation.

I only pizz'd there once driving thru. Beautiful country

Must of been at night or you wouldn’t be hypothesizing that it came from a trailered deer and/or a breeder.

Anyway Again CWD testing maps of CO and KS show your trail of tears

[Traildust]

All of the hill country is covered in free ranging exotics. You really are missing the big picture. As far as my cattle example no one knows if cattle are infected. That was my point about all of this is we really know very little about CWD.

I guess I'm missing the point about the exotics. Are they susceptible to cwd? If so, then the trapping, containing and moving of the animals should be stopped or regulated.

I'm not sure what the solution is, but the "hold my deer and watch this" doesn't work for me

Pun intended

[Take Dead Aim]

I guess I'm missing the point about the exotics. Are they susceptible to cwd? If so, then the trapping, containing and moving of the animals should be stopped or regulated.

I'm not sure what the solution is, but the "hold my deer and watch this" doesn't work for me

Pun intended

Elk are one of the biggest carriers of CWD. How do you tell an elk to not migrate if it is free range? I hunt outside of Burnet and we have had just about every type of exotic cross pass us at some point. All free range. Hundreds of Aoudad, Blackbuck, Axis, Fallow, etc. All these could be carriers of CWD but not necessarily affected by CWD. I know elk and Fallow can be affected but think axis have not been found to be affected.

Never said to sit back and do nothing was the best option. I do think it is ignorant to blame only breeders when CWD has been found in far West Texas where there is not a high fence/breeder deer within 300 miles. Mule Deer have tested positive for over a decade out East of El Paso. How are you going to bash deer breeders for those positive test?

Keep in mind how big this mess really is....You shoot a free range elk in Burnet County which does not have to be tested as the state considers them exotics. Lets say that elk has CWD obviously unknowingly to you as you have know way of knowing. You take that elk back home and process it and dispose of the carcass on your 20 acres. Guess what you now have CWD on your property and will until the end of the Earth. Same thing happens if that elk just dies out in the pasture. So testing and blaming deer breeders is still really "hold my beer and watch this". The state has their pants down on this whole issue and I am waiting for them to decide to pull them up but don't think they want to or can afford too. I AM NOT A DEER BREEDER NOR HAVE I EVER BEEN OR PLAN TO BE BUT I DO THINK THIS IS A HOT MESS THAT NOBODY REALLY WANTS TO DEAL WITH.

[justin156bc]

If it's not a naturally occurring issue how did a free range Reindeer in Norway contract it? Riddle me that batman!

[Traildust]

Elk are one of the biggest carriers of CWD. How do you tell an elk to not migrate if it is free range? I hunt outside of Burnet and we have had just about every type of exotic cross pass us at some point. All free range. Hundreds of Aoudad, Blackbuck, Axis, Fallow, etc. All these could be carriers of CWD but not necessarily affected by CWD. I know elk and Fallow can be affected but think axis have not been found to be affected.

Never said to sit back and do nothing was the best option. I do think it is ignorant to blame only breeders when CWD has been found in far West Texas where there is not a high fence/breeder deer within 300 miles. Mule Deer have tested positive for over a decade out East of El Paso. How are you going to bash deer breeders for those positive test?

Keep in mind how big this mess really is....You shoot a free range elk in Burnet County which does not have to be tested as the state considers them exotics. Lets say that elk has CWD obviously unknowingly to you as you have know way of knowing. You take that elk back home and process it and dispose of the carcass on your 20 acres. Guess what you now have CWD on your property and will until the end of the Earth. Same thing happens if that elk just dies out in the pasture. So testing and blaming deer breeders is still really "hold my beer and watch this". The state has their pants down on this whole issue and I am waiting for them to decide to pull them up but don't think they want to or can afford too. I AM NOT A DEER BREEDER NOR HAVE I EVER BEEN OR PLAN TO BE BUT I DO THINK THIS IS A HOT MESS THAT NOBODY REALLY WANTS TO DEAL WITH.

Nobody ever said breeders caused cwd Geez!
They have been and still are a pathway to moving infected animals all over the country. If you're cool with that....ok. I'm not.

I understand what your saying about killing an infected animal and unknowingly transporting it. Breeders do minimal testing......mostly after the fact.

[Traildust]

If it's not a naturally occurring issue how did a free range Reindeer in Norway contract it? Riddle me that batman!

Who said it wasn't naturally occurring?