Media Contact: Terry
Haindfield, Wildlife Management Biologist, Iowa Department of Natural
Resources, 563-380-3422.
Nine samples from hunter-harvested
deer from near Harpers Ferry during the 2016 hunting seasons have tested
positive for chronic wasting disease, bringing the total of CWD positive deer
from the area to 15.
The disease is spread from animal to
animal through nose to nose contact and through environmental contamination
from urine, feces and saliva left by positive deer. There is no cure once an
animal becomes infected.
The DNR met with hunters and
landowners in Harpers Ferry and Waukon on Jan. 18 to discuss collecting
additional deer samples from areas where data is limited and to get more samples
from the immediate areas where new positive cases were confirmed. At each
meeting, attendees volunteered to help collect additional samples.
“We hope to collect 250 to 300 samples
from mature deer from a specific area around Harpers Ferry and that will do two
things – provide information on specific areas in the target zone where we do
not have any data and to remove animals from the area where CWD-positive deer
have been found,” said Dr. Dale Garner, chief of the Iowa DNR’s Wildlife
Bureau.
“There is no good news when it comes
to chronic wasting disease. We know that if we leave it alone, it’s going to
spread. By removing adult deer, we are trying to target animals that are most
likely to carry the prion, which will slow the spread of the disease while
still allowing for quality deer hunting experiences each fall.”
Chronic wasting disease involves a
misshapen protein called a prion. Since this is a protein, a deer’s body does
not recognize it as a foreign substance, so it does not produce an antibody
response.
“There is no way to kill the prion and
the disease is always fatal,” Garner said.
The DNR established a scientific
collection effort from Jan. 21 to Feb. 5 in a defined area near Harpers Ferry.
Participants met with local DNR
wildlife staff to discuss how to remove the deer, where they planned to focus
their effort, and how to contact the DNR to provide the lymph nodes for testing.
Once a sample is submitted, it takes
two to three weeks to get results back.
Participants must have a scientific
collectors permit and tags and must contact the DNR within 24 hours of
collecting deer to arrange for sample collection. There is no fee for the permits. Participants
may use shotguns, muzzleloaders, bows and rifles .24 caliber and larger. All
other regulations, including the blaze orange requirement and shooting hours
restrictions, apply.
Permits are available from Noon to
6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on the weekends
until Feb. 5 at the Allamakee County Conservation office at 427 North First Street,
in Harpers Ferry. A group leader may sign up other members by having their
names and phone numbers.
A similar effort took place in 2015.
The collection had a goal of 200 samples, of which 105 deer were collected,
providing 85 usable samples. Twenty fawns were not sampled.
The Iowa DNR began collecting deer
tissue samples in 2002 after the CWD outbreak in Wisconsin. Since then, more
than 61,000 samples from wild deer and 4,000 samples from hunting preserve deer
have been collected and tested. The first wild deer tested positive in 2013,
followed by three in 2014, two in 2015 and nine so far in 2016.
Chronic wasting disease is not just an
Iowa issue; Minnesota has had a spike in deer testing positive for the disease
as well. Illinois, Nebraska, Missouri and
Wisconsin are all battling this disease.
Participation is voluntary and there
are ways other than removing deer to help slow the spread of CWD in this
area.
“We encourage everyone to not use
piles of feed or salt-mineral licks to attract deer. These baited sites increase the concentration
of deer which facilitates transmission of the disease,” said Garner. “And don’t leave a carcass or bones from this
region to decay on the land. Place
remains in heavy-duty plastic garbage bags to be properly disposed of in a
landfill.”
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