A single case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was enough to draw hundreds to a meeting at Texas Parks and Wildlife headquarters in South Austin Thursday morning. DNR wildlife veterinarian Steve Smith said the second deer was killed June 26.
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“Finding this second positive deer is disappointing, however, not unexpected”, said DNR Wildlife Division Chief Russ Mason. “We will continue with our aggressive surveillance throughout the summer and fall”.
Police are asking neighbors to be patient and understand the hunt is a way to keep the disease under control.
“Ultimately, I would like for us to not only be particularly sensitive to minimizing impacts to breeder facilities but also minimizing the risk to the state’s free-ranging deer herd which is critically important to Texas’ deer economy and other landowners and hunters across the state”, said Chairman Hughes.
Walsh said deer taken are being tested locally and are then sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Lab in Ames, Iowa for independent confirmation.
“High deer densities compromise habitat and contribute to easier transmission for a variety of pathogens”, he said.
“The latest news regarding a second positive test in Meridian Township is not surprising”, Walsh said.
Since the first free-ranging deer was found with the disease in May the DNR says it’s tested 304 deer in Mid-Michigan, but they’re hoping to test up to 4,000 by the end of the year. He thinks that people will continue coming there, as deer are available. The disease can be passed from deer-to-deer or through indirect contact.
“Once it’s established, there’s not much you can do”, he said. While that is a possibility, states where CWD is prevalent still have large, healthy deer populations that provide excellent hunting.
Chronic wasting disease, which is fatal in deer but can not be transmitted to humans, is caused by a mutated protein called a prion which multiplies in the diseased animal.
The disease does not affect people but the DNR is asking for your help.
The DNR has established a Core CWD Area consisting of Lansing, Meridian, Williamstown, Delhi, Alaiedon and Wheatfield townships in Ingham County; DeWitt and Bath townships in Clinton County; and Woodhull Township in Shiawassee County.
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“At this juncture, we’ve put a temporary prohibition on all movement of captive deer in the state – and again that’s out of an abundance of caution, both for the industry and for the wild deer”, said Carter Smith, executive director of Texas Parks and Wildlife.
