Indiana CWD Positive from PA Facility

[galthatfishes]

A deer from Indiana has CWD and it has been traced back to a PA facility.

If anyone can find the story on the PR news wire, please post it here.

[Dutch]

Indiana the state or Indiana the town in PA?

[galthatfishes]

Indiana state

[Deleted]

www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Hunters-in-S-Ind-should-be-aware-of-tagged-deer-3965153.php


BROWNSTOWN, Ind. (AP) — The state Department of Natural Resources is advising hunters in four southern Indiana counties to be on the lookout for ear-tagged deer and to shoot them if possible.

The DNR is asking hunters in Jackson County and the neighboring counties of Bartholomew, Jennings and Scott to be on alert for the deer. The deer were captive and escaped and may have been exposed to chronic wasting disease at a facility in another state before being moved to Indiana.

The DNR and the Indiana Board of Animal Health need to conduct disease testing on the deer.

Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological disease that causes deer o become emaciated, behave abnormally and eventually die.

Hunters who come across the ear-tagged deer are asked to report it to DNR law enforcement.

[galthatfishes]

www.qdma.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53096

They may be from pa

[galthatfishes]

Thank you cl!

[galthatfishes]

Escaped deer pose risk of spreading disease in Indiana

State wildlife officials fear the missing animals could have been exposed to fatal ailment

Twenty deer escaped this spring from a Jackson County farm where trophy bucks with huge antlers are bred and sold to fenced-in, private hunting preserves. Department of Natural Resources officials, may be infected with chronic wasting disease. / (Charlie Nye/The Star)

Deer hunters in four southeastern Indiana counties have been given an unusual directive by state wildlife officials: If you see a deer with a yellow tag in its ear, kill it.

And call a biologist.

The deer, say Department of Natural Resources officials, may be infected with chronic wasting disease.

The edict comes after 20 deer escaped this spring from a Jackson County farm where trophy bucks with huge antlers are bred and sold to fenced-in, private hunting preserves. Seven of the deer remain unaccounted for.

Wildlife officials worry about chronic wasting disease spreading here, devastating what is currently a thriving deer population of 500,000 to 1 million animals.

The disease, which is causing havoc in several states, including Wisconsin, hasn't yet made its way to Indiana. Officials don't think it poses a risk to humans or other livestock.

DNR spokesman Phil Bloom said the escape highlights a larger issue.

"This case," he said, "underscores the concern many have about how the commercialization of wildlife and interstate trafficking in wildlife presents a Pandora's box, with the potential spread of a deadly disease that does have some wide-ranging consequences."

In this case, Bloom said, biologists are hoping those consequences can be minimized with some help from hunters -- and motorists unlucky enough to hit and kill one of the tagged deer.

The alert not only includes Jackson County, where the release occurred, but also neighboring Bartholomew, Jennings and Scott counties. Licensed hunters and motorists who kill tagged deer are urged to immediately call [phone].

The DNR and the Indiana Board of Animal Health will retrieve the carcass so it can be tested for the disease.

Bloom said of particular interest are any deer with a yellow ear tag and two numbers on it, or any deer with a tag bearing the prefix "IN 764" followed by another four numbers.

Hunters who shoot one of the deer will be issued a new license free of charge.

DNR officials are concerned because a Pennsylvania farm -- where chronic wasting disease was detected -- sold 10 animals to farms in Indiana over the past three years. Bloom said two does were sold to farms in Noble and Whitley counties; the rest went to a farm in Jackson County.

Some of the Jackson County deer were moved to a fourth facility in Jackson County, where the escape happened.

Shawn Hanley, president of the Indiana Deer and Elk Farmers' Association, said a storm caused a tree to fall on the farm's fence. A Pennsylvania buck remains on the loose.

"We have been in contact with the DNR and with the (Indiana Board of Animal Health), and will cooperate fully with attempts to recover the lost animal," Hanley said in an email.

Citing the ongoing investigation, Bloom declined to release the name of the farms. So did Douglas Metcalf, chief of staff for the Board of Animal Health.

Meanwhile, Metcalf said, each of the four farms is under quarantine, and the animals are being tested for the disease.

Of the 20 deer that got loose, Bloom said, 11 were immediately recaptured, one was hit by a car and a bow hunter shot another this fall.

Rick D. Miller, the owner of the 2.5 Karat Game Ranch in nearby Bartholomew County, says he's outraged by what happened. The farm where the deer escaped, he said, isn't one of the 385 Indiana deer farms that voluntarily allow officials to test their herds for the disease.

"We don't want these crazy things to happen," said Miller, a former president of the Indiana Deer and Elk Farmers' Association.

Miller said Indiana's $50 million-a-year game-farming industry has a lot to lose if the disease spreads. And so does he.

At any given time, Miller says, he keeps between two dozen and 60 elk and white-tail deer on his farm. He collects deer urine to sell. Some hunters buy bottles of the urine as a deer attractant. Big "shooter" bucks can be sold to captive hunt facilities for $1,500 to $2,500.

Breeding stock can sell for $1,000 to $250,000, depending on the size and genetics of the buck.

In Indiana, at least, the future of farmers who sell to local game clubs remains unclear. In 2006, the DNR passed rules banning high-fence hunting because the facilities were deemed unsporting and a potential disease risk. The clubs sued in response.

A judge issued an injunction prohibiting a ban, leaving the facilities in business for the time being.

Bloom of the DNR said the legal challenges are pending.

Follow Star reporter Ryan Sabalow at twitter.com/RyanSabalow. Call him at [phone].

[galthatfishes]

So the New Oxford facility where a CWD positive deer sometime just pror to 4 October, sold ten deer to 3 or 4 farms in Indiana State; where deer were transfered to another facility and escaped.

Hmm.

Where is AG?

I sent the following email today.


Dear Deputy Director Meals,


I am writing regarding the escaped deer from the New Oxford facility on Thursday of Friday last week.


I have grave concerns regarding the lack of communication on this issue. I hope that you will communicate with the various resource agencies, especially the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and our NGO's, in particular; the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs and the Quality Deer Management Association to assist in the coordination of efforts in recovering this escaped deer.



I think you will find hunters an invaluable resource in recovering this escaped deer; especially if there is a visible ear tag as required.



No one wants to create a "panic" situation, but sitting on this information is not responsible.



Hunters contribute $214 MILLION dollars in taxes to the Pennsylvania economy each year, and in a national recession, we (hunters) have and continue to spend.



This is a wildlife health; a potential human health (once it jumps the species barrier) issue, a social, political, and economic issue. All spokes of that wheel must be considered.



If an ear tag is present, a press release would be welcomed by the hunting community. If the deer was a buck; specifics on the antler characteristics would be helpful. The last thing hunters want is a potential carrier of CWD in our free range herd. Hunters would react appropriately, and help to find that deer. This is the start of the peak of the "rut" in Pennsylvania (breeding season) when deer are more likely than at any other time to interact with other deer. You may even want to offer a reward.


Just today I got word from a colleague that CWD has been found in a captive Indiana State deer farming facility; and its origin is a Pennsylvania captive herd.


I would like to see a moratorium placed on the sale, transport, or movement of captive deer and their products until this trace-back is complete.



Kindest Regards,



Katherine L Davis

[galthatfishes]

Deer in Oklahoma may now be involved. "Unofficial" word is one of the quarantined farms here may have sold some to a farmer there, and then they died from... CWD.

"Unofficial" word also has it that the deer on this particular farm have SO FAR come back negative; but not all results are back; AND what if he sold the ones he was questionable about?

This lends the question- how long has it been here; and how far reaching will this be?

[Deleted]

Time to ban having deer farms spreading this disease faster then what it needed to! Why because they are too cheap to test there animals but want an arm and a leg when you go to buy them. What would anyone want with deer they seem more work then anything?

[galthatfishes]

Dead is the only way to reliably test deer. They want them because of the $. Those 25K deer are worth $50 million in PA alone; according to the industry.

[bioguy]

Oct 22, 2012 18:33:16 GMT -5 galthatfishes said:

Dead is the only way to reliably test deer. They want them because of the $. Those 25K deer are worth $50 million in PA alone; according to the industry.

Even when dead they can only detect it about 90% of the time, and we have NO idea how prevalent the prions need to be before they are detected in a test. Deer may remain asymptomatic for years, meaning they can deposit prions into the environment for years before they even show symptoms of the disease. Worst of all, it only takes ONE infected deer to screw things up for everyone. Just ONE! Why does this fire continue to be played with? It needs to be extinguished! The captive breeding industry must end. Pay them substantially for their losses, destroy their animals, and stop the spread of CWD throughout the US NOW!

[galthatfishes]

I want to know if this happened several months ago, and it was traced to the same facility in PA; WHAT did PDA do about it?

Sigh. Another Right to Know request.

[dennyf]

Here is PDA's response to a recent inquiry about what is going on now:

From Ag:

The following link brings you to the PDA website on CWD. It should provide all the information you need. -Bxxxxx

The link given is the same CWD info page that's been on PDA's site for some time, no mention of anything that's happened since the deer escaped from the New Oxford pen last Thursday.

Some response from the state agency that is supposed to be in the lead on CWD in PA, eh???

[neville]

FYI - The PGC shot video this morning of Dr. Walt Cottrell giving his CWD presentation to Harrisburg employees. We should be uploading that to Youtube and linking to it on our website as early as tomorrow.

[neville]

A few more developments:

* I signed the contract with the York Fairgrounds today. That meeting is a "go".
* Dr. Jagnow has a survey of the general population starting Saturday if not sooner.
* PGC meeting soon with processors and taxidermists.
* Signage for SGL's, sportsmen's clubs, sporting gooods stores, Agways, Tractor Supply, etc. developed. Awaiting approvals.
* Request made by Adams Co. Fed. - being fulfilled. (Thanks for contacting me Joe Lake!)

Busy times!

[Deleted]

Thanks Joe.

What has Dept of Ag done recently?

(crickets)

[dennyf]

Worse than that. Even their crickets have abandoned their posts.

[Dutch]

LOL

[wentzler]

Ya'll...in one ...very perverse way...the endemic spread of paranoia...serves purpose if we can 'harvest' it. How bad?, really...can National attention...ultimately be...to the total equation? Let's garner the 'awareness'...the figure a way to 'focus' it...and get some serious business...DONE! As an ever-learning miscreant....I choose to see opportuniity in every turn of events. ( c'mon folks...I don't have ALL that much time left...to keep boogerin'; things up to my own satisfaction:) The really salvatory part of that statement..IS:...I have a real good idea...that a lot of you may be right in step with my thought process??

Unfortunately/ironically/fortunately:)... in this wonderfully FREE society of ours'..if we are 'adaptable'...we are FREE...to find ways to turn...adverse conditions to our advantage.

How, possibly...can it be a bad thing...is our pest in the back yard...generates a national...'awareness'??

Let us ALL, therefore...take our own state-raised 'lemons' and find a good way...to make our lemonade...marketable...nation-wide:) We ARE...after all...a Keystone State:)

Ya'll need pay a bit more attention to the Turkey NUT!!...Don Heckman...he never sees anything as impossible...only...telling us all...in less than fifty thousand words:)

C'mon PFSC...let's make some kick *** lemon-ade???

ew....

[dennyf]

The Honorable Mr. Feathers is currently dealing with issues of his own in AZ, but is scheduled to return on or about the first week of November.We knew he couldn't stay away forever, right?

What I see happening here, is an eventual backlash over an agency's incompetency in handling something they've claimed they were up for.

Some thought it was a mistake to transfer responsibility for the raising of captive cervids over to AG, but that was the Legislature's remedy for nonexistant problems and they had their way with it.

Right about now, it shouldn't even be an issue worth haggling over, as it is becoming abundantly clear day by day, how much that move is going to affect us.

Reminds me of when some parents raised hail over their kids' midget baseball head coach and demanded someone else (of their chosing) take over the reins. So that happened, but the deposed coach had to guide the new messiah through the rest of the season, because most of us realized all along that he had been the "better man" for the job.

So here we are. CWD has arrived and the former coach is the only entity actually in the game, while the "new boys" are still on the sidelines, suckin' on their collective gums and wondering WTH they should do next.

[Dutch]

So, yer not really a fan of the Dept of Ag?

[galthatfishes]

To a Senator and his staffer.

Hi XXXX!

(Copied are Kip Adams with the QDMA and Gary Moore, Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmans Clubs)

Finallly back to home base. I had a chance to look at the link Ag gave you. That's the same info that's been up since the meeting on the 18th

There is NO info on the deer that escaped (named "PINK" and she wears a yellow ear tag). I would have expected Ag to have already issued an executive order, perhaps in conjunction with Game; that the yellow ear tagged deer may be shot on site; no tag even required; just please turn it into the PGC or the PDA.

Since reading the other link on the Indiana STATE deer that tested positive from CWD and escaped (several months ago); it appears to me at least, that PDA KNEW the Adams County facility where PINK escaped from may have been contaminated for at least the last 6 months.

I am hopeful that Kip will follow up with Indiana's CWD response team to see if Ag was notified. He may also want to check with Oklahoma State deer team leaders since they also had CWD positive deer from the same Adams County facility.

I don't know how we go about getting more cooperation and transparency from Ag, but when hunters are supporting a $75 million dollar PGC budget (not all of it is license fees, but we did pay for the game lands where the OGSM, and timber are- and we pay into Pittman Robertson with our weapons purchases) and we are contributing $214 MILLION in PA State taxes alone to (plus hunting supports countless jobs); we deserve answers.

With the real potential for this to hit our wild herd, we would appreciate the opportunity to be involved in this process, or at a minimum; kept abreast of the situation.

I thank you and Senator XXXXX for everything you have done to this point assisting us in gaining this valuable information. Time truly is of the essence here.

[galthatfishes]

Learned somethin' special today.

After Act 51 - 26 (PDA) Enforcement Officers


Prior to Act 51 of 2006 - Somewhere around 700 enforcement officers (PGC)

[galthatfishes]

Sent the following to two Senators office's today when I was asked what I wanted. If this info is posted elsewhere, a LINK to this message board should accompany that information. Information flow will stop or be sharply curtailed if "information mining" continues.



I think what we all would like is pretty simple.


1) Transparency.

2) An executive order from the PA Department of Agriculture that any hunter may shoot "Pink"; the escaped doe with the yellow ear tag. She is not a "wild" deer. She IS a threat to our wild herd.

3) A temporary restriction on the sale, transfer, loan, purchase of any cervid; including but not limited to the animals themselves; urine based scents and lures; and semen until the trace back is complete. Prions could easily be spread to the wild herd with the lure products as they persist in urine.

4) Reconstruct the fence at the York facility so wild deer can not interact and possible spread CWD.

The last thing hunters want is a potential CWD deer running free in the woods. If the were aware of the escaped deer; they could make a concerted effort to kill it; hence protecting the wild herd.

I believe the same could be said for the temporary restrictions I am asking for. I certainly think an "informed" hunting community is better than an "uninformed" one.

Placing the restrictions on those products until this mess is sorted out is the responsible way to proceed.

Deer farming is a $50 million dollar industry in PA. Hunting is valued at $1,165,059,772 in PA alone with $214 million annually into the PA state budget each year.

We need to protect that. These things will help.

I intend to file a third right to know request today. A news article (below) says that the State of Indiana has tested deer sold by the Adams County CWD Positive facility and has found them to be CWD positive. I'd like to know how long the PDA had this information;and why that farm wasn't placed under an immediate quarantine then. PDA may have had that information for as long as SIX months. That is unacceptable to the hunting community.

Thank you so much! Hopefully, XXXX will work on this as well. This doesn't seem to be getting any better.



Kindest regards,



Kathy Davis