Columnist Paula DelGiudice: Deer, elk get clean bill of health

Paula DelGiudice

Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2000 | 10:12 a.m.

Paula DelGiudice's outdoors notebook appears Wednesday. Reach her at PDelGiudice@compuserve.com.

Analysis of brain tissue samples collected during the past two years from more than 300 deer and elk in Nevada has found no sign of chronic wasting disease (CWD), according to the Nevada Division of Wildlife.

Mike Cox, NDOW staff biologist, said brain samples were collected from 303 mule deer and 25 elk at check stations and meat processors during the past two hunting seasons. All were examined by the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory and found to be free of the disease.

CWD is a progressive and fatal disease of the central nervous system of cervids, such as mule deer and elk. Its first known appearance was in the late 1960s when it was seen in captive deer and elk herds in Colorado and Wyoming.

Based upon the test results, NDOW believes that CWD does not exist in free-ranging deer and elk in this state. Cox said the agency is now putting its major emphasis on monitoring information gathered in other Western states regarding their testing and confirmed cases of CWD.

Since the disease is often associated with the rearing of elk in captivity, NDOW will be keeping in close contact with the Nevada Department of Agriculture, which has authority over elk ranching in the state. There are currently no elk ranching operations in Nevada.

The Nevada Division of Wildlife has agreed not to import elk from other states for the ongoing trapping and transplant program until a CWD test history for the particular herd clearly shows the herd is free of the disease. NDOW does not capture and transplant mule deer.

While there is no evidence that CWD can be transmitted to humans or domestic stock, it is a transmissible encephalopathy and is classified with diseases that includes scrapie in sheep and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known as Cruetzfeldt-Jacob (mad cow) disease in humans.

"The fire danger is extremely high due to the hot weather and very dry range conditions," said John Jones, resource management officer for the Nevada Division of Forestry. "Currently there are four fires burning in the state and there is the possibility for more because lightning is in the weather forecast."

Because of current fire dangers, fire restrictions are in place in many areas of the state. Jones said a call should be placed to the appropriate local public agency before heading to the outdoors. These include NDF, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service offices.

Information on fires that are currently burning in Nevada may be obtained on the Internet from the Western Great Basin Coordination Center at www.nv.blm.gov/2wgbcc. Information on fires in the West is available from the National Interagency Fire Center at www.nifc.gov.