Tom Morang
03-29-2002, 11:08 AM
Deer disease could be just tip of iceberg
Bill tackles wildlife illnesses
By Anita Weier
March 28, 2002
Chronic wasting disease may be just "the tip of the iceberg" of serious illnesses that captive wildlife could bring into Wisconsin, a DNR expert says.
"There is a lot of stuff out there, and we haven't had the authority to deal with it," Sarah Shapiro-Hurley said Wednesday. A veterinarian, she is deputy administrator of the land division for the Department of Natural Resources.
A captive wildlife bill approved by the state Senate and Assembly after years of work by Rep. DuWayne Johnsrud, Shapiro-Hurley and others could resolve much of the problem. It would allow the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to develop rules that can better control exotic species and whitetail deer. Elk and some other types of deer can already be regulated.
"I hope the governor signs it soon and puts me out of my misery," Shapiro-Hurley said Wednesday during a meeting of the Natural Resources Board.
Asked about the bill later on Wednesday, Gov. Scott McCallum said, "I haven't looked at it yet." But a member of his staff said he was likely to sign it.
Shapiro-Hurley the bill would provide authority to track exotic animals via health certificates.
"If we determine there is a disease of hyenas, we don't even know who brought them in or where they are," she said in an interview.
Diseases of captive wildlife can range from a form of distemper carried by lions and tigers to bubonic plague carried by prairie dogs, which are sold as pets, Shapiro-Hurley said. Foot-and-mouth disease is carried by hoofed animals. A cattle illness known in the tropics as heartwater disease can be transmitted by ticks, which can be carried by reptiles or birds.
"There are a lot of diseases in Africa and the Indian subcontinent. Diseases occur all over the world that don't occur in the United States," she said. "There's a lot of stuff out there we don't know much about."
Officials also are awaiting a provision that Johnsrud, R-Eastman, got into the state budget repair bill that would allow the DNR to control feeding of animals if necessary. Putting out feed causes deer to congregate, possibly enabling disease to spread, so restrictions may be considered. Feed containing rendered animal parts may also carry disease, as was the case with cattle in Europe.
Shapiro-Hurley said that current law prohibits feeding animal protein or bone meal derived from ruminants - which include deer, sheep and cows - to other ruminants.
"There has been talk that some folks try to manage their land and hunting opportunities by feeding bone to enhance big racks" of antlers. "But stores will not sell it for deer feeding," she said.
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal disease of the nervous systems of deer and elk. It attacks the brains of infected animals, causing them to become emaciated, display abnormal behavior, lose bodily functions and die. There is no proof that the disease can be transmitted to human beings or cattle. It is not known how the disease is transmitted.
Linda Glaser, a veterinarian and an epidemiologist with the state Division of Public Health, said, "It is impossible to prove that CWD would never cause human disease. The World Health Organization recommends not eating any part of an animal with CWD. In general, don't eat the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils and lymph nodes of deer and elk."
Three whitetail deer killed in the town of Vermont during the fall hunting season had the disease. Five hundred are now being killed so that their brain stems and lymph nodes can be tested for the disease. Some results should be back from a lab next week, but two of the 320 deer killed so far had symptoms of wasting disease, officials said.
Once the magnitude of the problem in the 415-square-mile test area in western Dane and eastern Iowa counties is determined, the DNR might consider limiting baiting and feeding in that area, Shapiro-Hurley said. "We don't have authority at the moment."
Bill tackles wildlife illnesses
By Anita Weier
March 28, 2002
Chronic wasting disease may be just "the tip of the iceberg" of serious illnesses that captive wildlife could bring into Wisconsin, a DNR expert says.
"There is a lot of stuff out there, and we haven't had the authority to deal with it," Sarah Shapiro-Hurley said Wednesday. A veterinarian, she is deputy administrator of the land division for the Department of Natural Resources.
A captive wildlife bill approved by the state Senate and Assembly after years of work by Rep. DuWayne Johnsrud, Shapiro-Hurley and others could resolve much of the problem. It would allow the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to develop rules that can better control exotic species and whitetail deer. Elk and some other types of deer can already be regulated.
"I hope the governor signs it soon and puts me out of my misery," Shapiro-Hurley said Wednesday during a meeting of the Natural Resources Board.
Asked about the bill later on Wednesday, Gov. Scott McCallum said, "I haven't looked at it yet." But a member of his staff said he was likely to sign it.
Shapiro-Hurley the bill would provide authority to track exotic animals via health certificates.
"If we determine there is a disease of hyenas, we don't even know who brought them in or where they are," she said in an interview.
Diseases of captive wildlife can range from a form of distemper carried by lions and tigers to bubonic plague carried by prairie dogs, which are sold as pets, Shapiro-Hurley said. Foot-and-mouth disease is carried by hoofed animals. A cattle illness known in the tropics as heartwater disease can be transmitted by ticks, which can be carried by reptiles or birds.
"There are a lot of diseases in Africa and the Indian subcontinent. Diseases occur all over the world that don't occur in the United States," she said. "There's a lot of stuff out there we don't know much about."
Officials also are awaiting a provision that Johnsrud, R-Eastman, got into the state budget repair bill that would allow the DNR to control feeding of animals if necessary. Putting out feed causes deer to congregate, possibly enabling disease to spread, so restrictions may be considered. Feed containing rendered animal parts may also carry disease, as was the case with cattle in Europe.
Shapiro-Hurley said that current law prohibits feeding animal protein or bone meal derived from ruminants - which include deer, sheep and cows - to other ruminants.
"There has been talk that some folks try to manage their land and hunting opportunities by feeding bone to enhance big racks" of antlers. "But stores will not sell it for deer feeding," she said.
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal disease of the nervous systems of deer and elk. It attacks the brains of infected animals, causing them to become emaciated, display abnormal behavior, lose bodily functions and die. There is no proof that the disease can be transmitted to human beings or cattle. It is not known how the disease is transmitted.
Linda Glaser, a veterinarian and an epidemiologist with the state Division of Public Health, said, "It is impossible to prove that CWD would never cause human disease. The World Health Organization recommends not eating any part of an animal with CWD. In general, don't eat the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils and lymph nodes of deer and elk."
Three whitetail deer killed in the town of Vermont during the fall hunting season had the disease. Five hundred are now being killed so that their brain stems and lymph nodes can be tested for the disease. Some results should be back from a lab next week, but two of the 320 deer killed so far had symptoms of wasting disease, officials said.
Once the magnitude of the problem in the 415-square-mile test area in western Dane and eastern Iowa counties is determined, the DNR might consider limiting baiting and feeding in that area, Shapiro-Hurley said. "We don't have authority at the moment."