November 7, 2002

Chronic Wasting Disease Affects Deer and Elk But Not People, and No Cases Have Been Reported in North Dakota

Although chronic wasting disease has not been found in North Dakota deer and elk, hunters should take certain steps to prevent the spread of the disease, according to a North Dakota State University veterinarian.

"Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) are usually fatal diseases that affect the nervous systems of domestic animals, wild animals and humans," says Charles Stoltenow, a veterinary specialist at North Dakota State University. "CWD is mostly concentrated in the nervous system and any tissues or organs that the body uses for filtering body fluids."

"There is no evidence that CWD is a food safety risk," Stoltenow says. Here are the steps hunters should take to protect themselves, and to keep from spreading CWD to other areas:

• Do not shoot, handle or consume an animal that appears sick
• Wear rubber gloves when field dressing a carcass or handling tissues
• Bone out the meat from your animal
• Minimize handling of the spine and brain tissues
• Wash hands and instruments thoroughly after field dressing
• Avoid consuming brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils and lymph nodes from harvested animals
• Avoid consuming meat from any animal that tests positive for CWD
• Request that your animal be processed individually, without meat from other animals being added to meat from your animal.

CWD has been found in white-tail, black-tail and mule deer, and in elk in several states and Saskatchewan. Other forms of TSE that affect animals are scrapie (sheep) and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (which affects cattle and is also known as mad cow disease). No case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy has ever been reported in the U.S., Stoltenow says.

Researchers believe that TSEs are caused by infectious, protein-based particles called prions. These prions are closely related to proteins found in the nervous and lymphoid tissues. The damage caused by these prions results in the degeneration of brain tissue, creating "holes" which give the brain a spongelike appearance.

"There are two TSEs currently found in U.S. in animals used for food consumption," Stoltenow says. "These are scrapie in sheep and CWD in elk and several species of deer."

CWD was first noticed in captive mule deer in Colorado. By 2000 CWD was observed in deer and elk in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Montana, South Dakota and Minnesota. It has also been reported in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

"To date, there hasn’t been a single observance of CWD in North Dakota," Stoltenow says. "The N.D. Game and Fish Department has tested more than 750 samples without a single positive result. An executive order prohibits anyone from bringing deer and elk carcasses into North Dakota from states affected by CWD. There are certain deer and elk products that are exempted from this ban."

It is not a violation to bring in the carcass or carcass parts when:

• Meat is cut and wrapped
• Meat is in quarters or other portions of meat that have no part of the spinal column or head attached
• Meat has been boned out
• Hide has no head attached
• Clean (no meat or tissue attached) skull plate with antlers attached
• Antlers have no meat or tissue attached
• The product is upper canine teeth, also known as ‘buglers’, ‘whistlers’ or ‘ivories’
• The head is a finished taxidermy product.

Carcasses or carcass parts can be transported through the state as long as they are not processed or prepared in the state, or removed from the vehicle within the state.

Carcasses and products that fall under the terms outlined in the executive order are from selected areas in Colorado, South Dakota, Wyoming and Saskatchewan. There are also areas in Nebraska, Wisconsin and New Mexico that fall under these prohibitions due to cases of CWD.

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Source: Charles Stoltenow, (701)231-7522, charles.stoltenow@ndsu.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701)231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Writer: Scott Lowell, (701)231-7865, slowell@ndsuext.nodak.edu