HARRISBURG, Pa., (PRNewswire) — While the Commonwealth’s big game hunting seasons kick off with the beginning of archery deer season on Sept. 30, thousands of Pennsylvania hunters are heading off to participate in deer and elk hunting seasons in other states and Canadian provinces.
With chronic wasting disease (CWD) present in free-ranging wildlife populations in 11 states and two Canadian provinces, Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe reminds hunters that in December
2005, the agency issued a ban on importing specific cervid carcass parts.
States named in the order are: Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York (only from CWD containment area), South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia (only from Hampshire County), Wisconsin and Wyoming; as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The specific carcass parts, where the CWD prion (causative substance) concentrates in cervids, that cannot be brought back to Pennsylvania by hunters are: head (including brain, tonsils, eyes and retropharyngeal lymph nodes); spinal cord/backbone; spleen; skull plate with attached antlers, if visible brain or spinal cord material is present; cape, if visible brain or spinal cord material is present; upper canine teeth, if root structure or other soft material is present; any object or article containing visible brain or spinal cord material; unfinished taxidermy mounts; and brain-tanned hides.
Roe noted that the prohibition does not limit the importation of the following animal parts originating from any hunter-harvested cervid in the quarantined states or area: meat, without the backbone; skull plate with
attached antlers, if no visible brain or spinal cord material is present; tanned hide or raw hide with no visible brain or spinal cord material present; cape, if no visible brain or spinal cord material is present; upper canine teeth, if no root structure or other soft material is present; and finished taxidermy mounts.
Pennsylvania hunters heading to a state with a history of CWD should become familiar with that state’s wildlife regulations and guidelines for the transportation of harvested game animals. Wildlife officials have suggested hunters in areas where CWD is known to exist follow these recommendations to prevent the possible spread of the disease:
– Do not shoot, handle or consume any animal that appears sick; contact the state wildlife agency if you see or harvest an animal that appears sick.
– Wear rubber or latex gloves when field-dressing carcasses.
– Bone out the meat from your animal.
– Minimize the handling of brain and spinal tissues.
– Wash hands and instruments thoroughly after field-dressing is completed.
– Request that your animal is processed individually, without meat from other animals being added to meat from your animal, or process your own meat if you have the tools and ability to do so.
– Have your animal processed in the endemic area of the state where it was harvested, so that high-risk body parts can be properly disposed of there. Only bring low-risk materials back to Pennsylvania.
– Don’t consume the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils or lymph nodes of harvested animals. (Normal field-dressing, coupled with boning out a carcass, will remove most, if not all, of these body parts.
Cutting away all fatty tissue will remove remaining lymph nodes.)
– Avoid consuming the meat from any animal that tests positive for the disease.
Roe said hunters who harvest a deer or elk where CWD is known to exist should follow that state’s wildlife agency’s instructions on how and where to submit the appropriate samples to have their animal tested. If, after returning to Pennsylvania, a hunter is notified that his or her game tested positive for CWD, the hunter is encouraged to contact the Game Commission for disposal recommendations.
The Game Commission, with the assistance of the Pennsylvania and U.S. departments of Agriculture, has conducted tests on 196 elk and 10,010 deer killed by hunters in Pennsylvania over the past five and four years, respectively. Since 1998, the Game Commission, in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, has tested nearly 500 deer that have died of unknown illness or were exhibiting abnormal behavior. No evidence of CWD has been found in these samples.
The Game Commission will continue to monitor for and collect samples from deer and elk that appear sick or behave abnormally, and, this year, the agency plans to test all hunter-killed elk and 4,000 hunter-harvested
wild deer for the disease.
First identified in 1967, CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) that affects cervids, including all species of deer, elk and moose. It is a progressive and always fatal disease of the nervous
system. Scientists theorize CWD is caused by an unknown agent capable of transforming normal brain proteins into an abnormal form.
There currently is no practical way to test live animals for CWD, nor is there a vaccine. Clinical signs include poor posture, lowered head and ears, uncoordinated movement, rough-hair coat, weight loss, increased
thirst, excessive drooling, and, ultimately, death. There is currently no scientific evidence that CWD has or can spread to humans, either through contact with infected animals or by eating meat of infected animals.
The Centers for Disease Control has thoroughly investigated any connection between CWD and the human forms of TSEs and stated “the risk of infection with the CWD agent among hunters is extremely small, if it exists at all” and “it is extremely unlikely that CWD would be a food-borne hazard.”
“Hunters spend a lot of time in the woods, and are a valuable source of information to wildlife agencies across the United States,” Roe said. “If a hunter sees a deer or elk behaving abnormally, or dying from unknown
causes, contact the state wildlife agency and provide as much specific information as possible about where the animal was seen.”
In 2005, Pennsylvania CWD task force members completed the state’s response plan, which outlines ways to prevent CWD from entering our borders and, in the event CWD is found in Pennsylvania, how to detect it, contain it and work to eradicate it. The task force was comprised of representatives from the Governor’s Office, the Game Commission, the state Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the state Department of Health, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, as well as representatives from stakeholder groups including hunters, deer farmers, deer processors and taxidermists.
Other information, including tips for taxidermists and meat processors, can be found on the Game Commission’s website (http://www.pgc.state.pa.us) in the CWD Update. Websites for all 50 state wildlife agencies can be accessed via the Game Commission’s website (http://www.pgc.state.pa.us). Click on the “Related Links” section at the bottom of the homepage, then select “Wildlife Agencies,” and then choose the state of interest from the map. Additional information on CWD can be found on the CWD Alliance’s website
http://www.cwd-info.org).