LOCAL

What is chronic wasting disease in deer and can it affect humans?

Karen Chávez
The Citizen-Times
  • Chronic wasting disease is always fatal
  • "CWD could have a big impact on our deer herd and hunting," Justin McVey, wildlife biologist.

Just as the state agency charged with wildlife management released its proposed hunting and fishing rule changes for next year, including one to protect the health of North Carolina’s deer herd from a deadly disease, that threat has grown even closer.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission enacted a rule this past fall for the 2018-19 deer hunting season that prohibits the importation of whole deer carcasses and restricts the importation of specific carcass parts from anywhere outside of North Carolina to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease.

The permanent rule change to ban deer carcasses is among a slate of new hunting, fishing, trapping and law enforcement rules just released to the public and to be discussed at public meetings across the state.

But on Dec. 14, the need for the ban became more ominous.

It is now legal to hunt deer and other wildlife with guns on Sunday on private property in North Carolina.

That’s when the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency announced it was enacting its chronic wasting disease response plan, following preliminary detection of CWD in white-tailed deer in the western part of the state. TWRA biologists are testing additional deer and are trying to contact the hunters who harvested the infected deer.

MORE: North Carolina bans import of deer carcasses

“The cervid importation ban is to try to stop the spread of chronic wasting disease and hopefully prevent, or at least delay, its arrival in North Carolina,” said Brad Stanback, commissioner for District 9, which encompasses the westernmost counties of the state.

“The disease has been spreading east for several years, and in some Western and Midwestern states, the deer population has been severely impacted,” he said.

Jodie Owen, wildlife commission spokeswoman, said there has never been a confirmed case of CWD in North Carolina, and until now, the closest known cases of CWD were found in deer in Virginia.

“It will be a pretty big deal if we get CWD in North Carolina,” said Justin McVey, mountain region wildlife biologist for the wildlife commission. “It’s a fatal disease that’s not really well understood. It could have a big impact on our deer herd and hunting.”

What is chronic wasting disease?

CWD was first observed in the 1960s at a research facility in Colorado. It has now been confirmed in 25 states and three Canadian provinces.

CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy disease in deer, elk, moose and reindeer/caribou and always kills its victims. The source of the disease is an abnormal prion - a form of protein - that collects in the animal’s brain cells, according to the N.C. Wildlife Commission. These brain cells eventually burst, leaving behind microscopic empty spaces in the brain matter that give it a “spongy” look. 

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The new rule states that anyone transporting cervid carcass parts into North Carolina must follow processing and packaging regulations, which only allow the importation of:

  • Meat that has been boned out such that no pieces or fragments of bone remain
  • Caped hides with no part of the skull or spinal column attached
  • Antlers, antlers attached to cleaned skull plates, or cleaned skulls free from meat, or brain tissue
  • Cleaned lower jawbone(s) with teeth or cleaned teeth
  • Finished taxidermy products and tanned hides.

All carcass parts or container of cervid meat or carcass parts must be labeled or identified with the:

  • Name and address of individual importing carcass parts
  • State, Canadian province, or foreign country of origin
  • Date the cervid was killed
  • Hunter’s license number, permit number, or equivalent identification from the state, Canadian province, or foreign country of origin.

These new restrictions aim to prevent the infectious agent of CWD from contaminating new environments by way of disposal of carcass tissues, particularly those of the brain and spine, since CWD contaminants can last in the soil for years.

Chronic wasting disease can affect elk. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is taking steps to prevent the spread of the deadly disease in North Carolina.

Concern for the serious effect of CWD on North Carolina’s deer herd, the wildlife commission developed a CWD Response Plan in 2002, which guides the agency’s initial short-term (approximately one year) efforts if CWD is detected in the state’s deer herd, or if CWD is detected in deer within 30 miles of its borders.

McVey said agency biologists conduct statewide sampling of deer every year through hunter harvests and from road kill, and attempt to sample all deer that show signs of the disease or die of unknown causes.

“Unfortunately, it’s inevitable that it will get here. It’s possible that it’s already here, and we just haven’t detected it yet,” McVey said. “We’re trying to be as cautious as we can. The public can help by looking for signs of CWD in deer – if they are disoriented, stumbling around, emaciated, definitely contact us and let us know about it.”

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Although CWD has no known impacts to humans or livestock, the wildlife commission recommends people do not eat meat from a deer that looks sick, a deer's brain, eyes, spinal cord, spleen, tonsils or lymph nodes, or any meat from an animal that tests positive for the disease.

For more information about CWD, visit the Commission’s CWD web page.

Another proposed rule change regarding warning tickets also relates to the cervid importation ban, Stanback said.

“It is to give our enforcement officers more leeway to interact with hunters and make them aware of the cervid importation ban and its importance without having to issue citations every time they discover a violation of this new rule,” he said.

The wildlife commission is also proposing a rule to modify the archery equipment definition would add elk.

Although there is currently no elk hunting season, said mountain region wildlife biologist Justin McVey, adding elk into the regulations is a housekeeping measure to be prepared in case a permit hunt for elk is opened in the future.

There are also proposed rule changes to trout water boundaries and for game lands.

Want to comment?

The comment period will be open until Friday, Feb. 1. Comments may be submitted online, emailed to regulations@ncwildlife.org (must include name, phone number and mailing address in e-mail) or mailed to: Rule-Making Coordinator, N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, 1701 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1700.

The public can also provide comments at one of nine public hearings the commission is holding across the state in January. Hearings begin at 7 p.m. at the following locations:

Jan. 15: District  9. Haywood Community College Auditorium, 185 Freelander Drive, Clyde

Jan. 16: District  8. Western Piedmont Community College, Leviton Auditorium, Moore Hall, 1001 Burkemont Ave., Morganton.

For more information and the full list of proposed regulations, visit www.ncwildlife.org/Proposed-Regulations.