August 2011, a topic I spoke about on my tv show was the impact in which chronic wasting disease (CWD) may have on PA deer. On the show, my husband, Ed, wildlife enthusiast/videographer, stated CWD was confirmed in a deer killed in Allegheny, MD by a hunter in November 2010. The area is ten miles off the border of PA. In February 2011, testing on this (dead) deer showed showed a positive result for this fatal disease.
CWD is a fatal neurological disease that attacks the central nervous system in deer. Small holes are formed in the brain of infected animals. Symptoms may not appear up to 15 months after being infected. Clinical symptoms included weight loss, changes in behavior, drowsiness, urinating excessively, lack of bodily functions, salivation, uncoordination, emaciation while heads and ears may hang lower. Once infected, it is 100% fatal in all victims. Most deer die within several months once signs of CWD appear.
So far, CWD has not shown any evidence of being trasmitted to humans (according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization), livestock or pets. It does, however, pose a direct threat to the PA’s elk herd (which is part of the deer family.)
Since that topical program, the State Department of Agriculture has confirmed two cases of CWD in PA in the same captive deer pen in Adams County. The first deer died on on October 10th, 2012, according to PA Outdoor News. In addition to the Adams County location, the Deparment of Agriculture has quarantined 27 deer farms according to the PA Outdoor News website.
As of November 8th, an antlerless deer (Pink 23) that lived in this Adams County deer enclosure, escaped into the wild and remains at large.
Here is the worst-case scenario concerning Pink 23: If Pink 23 also has CWD, comes into contact with other deer, she has the capacity to create a domino effect of spreading this insidious disease among the wild deer population in PA. Because of the possiblity of the catastrophic impact, public service announcments have been playing on radio stations and listed on news publications instructing hunters what to do with their deer harvests this year.
While I’m certainly no hunter and don’t eat meat, it is noteworthy to mention that PA hunters have harvested an approximate 336,240 deer during the 2011-2012 hunting season, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC). Hunters Sharing the Harvest, a group of hunters who donate deer meat to homeless shelters, food pantries, missions, Salvation Army facilities and churches, as well as needy famlies, give about 100,000 pounds of processed venison. Another way in which to look at this-750,000 meals are provided to Pennsylvanians each year as a result of this group of hunters.
Due to the confirmed case of CWD in PA, an Executive Order has been issued by the PGC to establish a Disease Management Area in portions of Adams and York Counties. Feeding and rehabilitation has been banned.
How will this affect harvested deer and the deer herd in PA? Hunters can have their deer tested through the PA Veterinary Laboratory. Unhealthy animals should not be killed but reported to their closest PGC Region Office. As a precaution, hunters are advised to not eat meat from animals known to be infected with CWD, according to the PGC’s website.
The hypothetical impact this could have on the needy/homeless people of PA if Pink 23 not only is infected but infects other deer could potentially place an undue burden on our food banks and homeless shelters throughout PA.
As of today, Pink 23 has been seen but not captured or killed.