Post by naturelovr on Jan 25, 2012 6:08:45 GMT -6
State Warns: Wasting Disease Striking Deer In Missouri
By: KCTV, Kansas City
Updated: January 24, 2012
(Kansas City, MO) -- The Missouri Department of Conservation is warning deer hunters and the general public to be on the look out for very sick deer.
Two adult bucks killed by hunters in Macon County have tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease. It is a rare neurological disease that is deadly to deer.
It cannot be transmitted to other animals, but the state warns you should not eat meat from an infected deer as a precaution. Signs of a sick deer include extreme weight loss, excessive saliva, stumbling and tremors.
Department spokesman Bill Graham said hunters should keep a keen eye out for sick deer.
The state is continuing to conduct tests, including on other deer killed by hunters in the area. Besides the deer roaming freely in Macon County, captive white-tailed deer in Linn County have tested positive.
Graham said if you see a deer you suspect has the disease don't shoot it. If you do, tag it and report it.
"We just want to be cautious," Graham said. "Any deer that looks sick, it's probably not advisable to eat them."
Chronic wasting disease was first discovered in Colorado in 1967. It has been found in 15 states including Missouri.
"Teamwork among landowners, hunters and MDC staff allowed us to detect this infection early," said MDC Deer biologist Jason Sumners. "We will be working with local landowners to harvest additional deer for tissue sampling. This is a first step and one of our best hopes for containing, and perhaps even eliminating, what we believe to be a recent localized event."
ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=592092
By: KCTV, Kansas City
Updated: January 24, 2012
(Kansas City, MO) -- The Missouri Department of Conservation is warning deer hunters and the general public to be on the look out for very sick deer.
Two adult bucks killed by hunters in Macon County have tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease. It is a rare neurological disease that is deadly to deer.
It cannot be transmitted to other animals, but the state warns you should not eat meat from an infected deer as a precaution. Signs of a sick deer include extreme weight loss, excessive saliva, stumbling and tremors.
Department spokesman Bill Graham said hunters should keep a keen eye out for sick deer.
The state is continuing to conduct tests, including on other deer killed by hunters in the area. Besides the deer roaming freely in Macon County, captive white-tailed deer in Linn County have tested positive.
Graham said if you see a deer you suspect has the disease don't shoot it. If you do, tag it and report it.
"We just want to be cautious," Graham said. "Any deer that looks sick, it's probably not advisable to eat them."
Chronic wasting disease was first discovered in Colorado in 1967. It has been found in 15 states including Missouri.
"Teamwork among landowners, hunters and MDC staff allowed us to detect this infection early," said MDC Deer biologist Jason Sumners. "We will be working with local landowners to harvest additional deer for tissue sampling. This is a first step and one of our best hopes for containing, and perhaps even eliminating, what we believe to be a recent localized event."
ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=592092