Wildlife and veterinary experts stress that they won’t be making any decisions on how to proceed in managing this disease outbreak until all sample tests are completed and analyzed.

Since the effort to collect 500 deer began on March 5, a total of 197 samples from the surveillance area have been tested.

Late yesterday, officials also received word that a deer displaying outward CWD-like symptoms which was shot just outside the surveillance area a little over a week ago was, in
fact, negative for CWD.

The newest positive samples came from Sections 16 and 18 in the Town of Vermont about five miles northwest of Mt. Horeb; from Section 19 in the Town of Black Earth, about 1.5 miles southwest of the Village of Mazomanie; Section 31 in the Town of Arena about 4 miles southwest of Arena and Section 31 in the Town of Berry about 4 miles west of Cross Plains.  All of the new positive findings are within approximately five miles of original discovery of CWD in western Dane County.

CWD is a neurologic disease of deer and elk. It belongs to the family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases. It attacks the brains of infected deer and elk causing the animals to become emaciated, display abnormal behavior, lose bodily functions and die.

Following the discovery on February 28 of three CWD-positive deer killed by hunters in the Mt. Horeb area during the 2001 gun deer hunt, wildlife officials immediately launched an effort to collect 500 deer for testing to determine the extent of the infection in the wild deer herd.  The sample area covers a 415 square mile surveillance area around the site where the infected deer were found. To date, 414 deer have been collected.  Landowners have provided most of the deer killed for testing.  The only recognized test for CWD requires brain stem tissue necessitating killing of the animal.

"The sample size was set and spread out geographically to give us an idea of where the infection might be centered and how far it’s spread," said DNR veterinarian Dr. Sarah
Shapiro-Hurley.  "The size of the sample will give us some statistically reliable data we can use to plan our next steps.  This is a communicable disease among deer and based on the experiences of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska where it already exists in wild herds, it can be expected to spread."

As for when the rest of the sample results would be available, officials said they will just have to wait patiently.

"We’re all waiting for the rest of the samples to be processed but that will take some time," said Shapiro-Hurley.  "We appreciate the efforts of the USDA-National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames to expedite processing of our samples, but we can’t say for sure when the additional results will come to us."

The state Departments of Natural Resources (DNR), Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection (DATCP) and Health and Family Services (DHFS) formed an interagency task force to investigate the disease in Wisconsin.  DNR has been testing annually for CWD in wild deer since 1999. Over 1000 deer have been tested so far with all results negative until now.

Department of Natural Resources wildlife managers and landowners will continue to collect deer until the 500 deer sample goal is met.  With landowner consent, state officials have made authorized shooting teams available to assist landowners in the surveillance area withcollecting the necessary number of deer.

The Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection is taking steps to increase monitoring and surveillance of captive deer and elk within the state for CWD.

"DATCP has banned deer and elk imports from other states unless they come from herds that can document that they have been CWD-free for at least five years," says DATCP assistant state veterinarian Dr. Bob Ehlenfeldt.  "Currently, very few if any herds in the United States have been tested long enough to meet that standard. DATCP initiated a voluntary monitoring program for captive elk and deer in 1998."

CWD has been known to occur in deer and elk in the USA for decades. In spite of ongoing surveillance for similar disease syndromes in humans, there has never been an instance of people contracting a disease from butchering or eating meat from CWD-infected animals.  A World Health Organization (WHO) panel of experts reviewed all the available information on CWD and concluded that there is no scientific evidence that CWD can infect humans.  However, there is much that scientists still do not know about CWD, and one cannot state that transmission of CWD to humans is absolutely impossible.

A map of the sampling area is available on the DNR Web site.

More information on Chronic Wasting Disease is also available on the DNR Web site.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Hauge (608) 266-2193, Sarah Shapiro-Hurley (608) 267-7472, Bob Manwell (608) 264-9248, Carl Batha (608) 935-1945.