DNR to heavily test deer around Harpers Ferry for CWD, asks for public assistance; Officials hope CWD- positive deer shot last fall was isolated case

by Kelli Boylen

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is asking for the assistance of landowners and hunters in dealing with what they hope is an isolated case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) found in a wild deer shot in Allamakee County. The deer, which was harvested south of Harpers Ferry in Yellow River State Forest during the 2013 first regular shotgun season, is the first known case of CWD in a wild deer in the state of Iowa.
The deer is the first positive test in the more than 51,000 samples tested statewide since 2002, said Dale Garner, Wildlife Bureau Chief with the Iowa DNR. He says until there is another confirmed positive test, he remains optimistic that it is an isolated case.
The DNR shared information about the positive case at three public meetings held last week in Waukon, Monona and Harpers Ferry. At the Harpers Ferry meeting, a representative from Whitetails Unlimited encouraged the support of the DNR’s endeavors in dealing with CWD.
All of the states surrounding Iowa have had confirmed cases of CWD for many years, and it has been known to exist in the wild in Colorado since the mid-1980s.
Garner says the DNR action plan at this point is to heavily test deer in the state, especially within the approximately five-mile radius of where the infected deer was harvested. If there are no further cases found in the next three years, they will continue to test deer as they have in the past. If more cases are found, the DNR will work with the public to decide how to proceed from that point.
Even if no more cases are found, Garner says, “we are in this for the long haul. We will likely be collecting samples for testing from here to eternity.”
CWD is not caused by a virus, bacteria or fungus, but rather a prion (an infectious misshapen protein). It belongs to the same family of diseases known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (commonly called Mad Cow Disease) and can be found in whitetail deer, moose, elk and mule deer. There is no vaccination for CWD and there is no treatment. It is always fatal to the infected deer once clinical signs appear.
Symptoms in infected deer include dementia, lack of coordination, abnormal behavior and excessive salivation. Infected deer are often severely emaciated. Deer show clinical signs of the illness within 16 to 36 months of exposure, and can spread prions through saliva, urine and feces prior to showing symptoms.
The DNR is encouraging the public to report all roadkill deer found in the area near where the infected deer was shot in Yellow River State Forest south of Harpers Ferry. The DNR's goal is to test 500 deer this year in Allamakee County, 300 of which they hope are from the targeted area around where the infected deer was killed, and they will need the public’s assistance to accomplish this. (See sidebar to this article on the front page).
Although there have been three confirmed cases of captive deer infected with CWD on game farms and preserves in Iowa since 2012, there have not been any confirmed cases in the local area and no cases of wild deer infected with CWD in the state of Iowa until this Allamakee County case. All deer that die on game farms and preserves in Iowa - whether they are shot or die of natural causes - are tested for CWD.
DNR officials say it is likely the infected deer crossed the Mississippi River from Wisconsin, one of the neighboring states where CWD has been detected in the past. Officials hope that the deer came across the river shortly before it was shot.
The prions that cause CWD are extremely hard to eliminate. Carcasses must be burned at more than 1500 degrees to destroy them and they can live in the soil for years. The DNR is asking hunters to not put carcasses out for scavengers, but rather to bury them or take them to a clay-lined landfill, Garner says.
It typically takes about four months for CWD sample results to be returned from one of the 28 labs in the United States that perform the test. Testing in Iowa is funded through licensing fees.
Although the U.S. Center for Disease control recommends not eating deer that have tested positive, there is no known transmission of CWD to humans. Garner pointed out hunters and others who consume venison in Colorado and Wyoming, where there are more known cases than anywhere in the country, do not have a higher incidence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (a similar neurodegenerative disease in humans) than anywhere else.
If a deer tests positive, the DNR offers the choice to the hunter if they want to consume the meat or if they would like the DNR to dispose of it for them. “It’s a personal choice,” Garner says. “You can keep it to eat if you wish, but we just don’t want the meat to be set out for the dog or coyotes.”
Garner said there are no plans currently to try to eradicate deer in northeast Iowa like was done in southern Wisconsin when the disease was discovered, but he noted there is less risk of transmission in areas where there are fewer deer. He notes that the DNR always tries to balance the deer population with the desires of hunters, landowners and drivers.
He encourages all landowners to allow hunting on their land, as that can make a big difference in the overall deer population and 98 percent of the land in the State of Iowa is privately owned. Everyone is asked to refrain from feeding or baiting deer, as CWD can be transmitted through saliva.
Garner said in states where studies have been done with numerous cases of CWD the deer population starts to decline once the overall infection rate reaches about 40 percent of the entire deer population.