Harrisburg, Pa. – Chronic wasting disease, or CWD, is one of the biggest wildlife challenges of this century, according to experts, and highly contagious disease is one of Pennsylvania’s most valuable natural resources.
Now, the state sports commission will seek the help of the people before it spreads further.
The neurological disease, which affects members of the Servid family, is the deer, the elk, the moose, said Bob Fry, communications coordinator for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said Bob Fry, communications coordinator for the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Fry said 539 deer in the state have tested positive for the disease since the agency began investigating it in 2012. Eighty-six of those cases are from this year.
“Ultimately, in each case, it leads to death,” Fry said. “It simply came to our notice then [a] Fatal disease. There is no cure, no way to check if an animal has it until after it dies. “
The disease develops slowly in the animal’s lymph nodes, spinal tissue and brain, experts said.
“In the case of deer, make holes in their brains, the ends of which we call part of the spoiler,” Fry explained. “Deer lose weight. They work a lot harder. They lose appetite. They become cautious.”
Those symptoms are not always obvious to the naked eye. That is why the Sports Commission asks hunters to deposit their heads in marked containers if they harvest deer in one of the three disease management areas of the state.
“We’ll do a free trial for you and send you the results,” Fry said. “Then before you eat your deer you will know if it is CWD positive.”
Fry said there is no evidence that the disease has spread to humans, but one that affects deer populations in 24 states nationwide.
“We are together in this fight as people who care about wildlife and hunting,” Fry said. Then we can figure out what to do and what we need to do. “
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