RANCHING Wildlife
Four CWD Positives Found in Trans Pecos Mule Deer
D
URING THE 2012 TO 2013 TESTING SEASON FOR CHRONIC wasting disease (CWD) in the Trans Pecos re- gion of far West Texas, 4 of 298 tissue samples
collected from hunter-harvested mule deer were con- fi rmed positive. Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Labo-
ratory and National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) have confi rmed the results of the 4 samples. All CWD-positive deer were harvested within the CWD Containment Zone. Of the deer sampled during hunting season, 107 were
harvested in the containment zone, 93 were harvested in the adjacent high risk zone, 25 were harvested in the buffer zone, and 73 deer were harvested outside of the CWD zones. Nineteen of the samples collected from the containment zone were from deer harvested in the Hueco Mountains. “The good news is that CWD has not been detected
in Texas outside of the Hueco Mountains of northern El Paso and Hudspeth counties,” said Mitch Lockwood, big game program director with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). Including the 2 positives reported from TPWD’s strategic sampling effort last summer and the 3 posi-
52 The Cattleman April 2013
tives reported by New Mexico Game and Fish last year, CWD has been detected in 9 of 31 deer sampled in the Hueco Mountains. CWD is a member of the group of diseases called
transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Other diseases in this group include scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle, and Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. CWD among cervids is a progressive, fatal disease that commonly results in altered behavior as a result of microscopic changes made to the brain of affected animals. An animal may carry the disease for years without
outward indication, but in the latter stages symptoms may include listlessness, lowering of the head, weight loss, repetitive walking in set patterns, and a lack of responsiveness. CWD is not known to affect humans. There is no vaccine or cure for CWD, but steps have
been taken to minimize the risk of the disease spread- ing from beyond the area where it currently exists. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission and Texas Animal Health Commission adopted rules restricting movement of deer, elk and other susceptible species within or from the CWD Zones and enhanced surveil- lance efforts.
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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