Anony Mouse's Link
From ProMed today:
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE, CERVID - USA (10): (MISSISSIPPI), IMPORTATION 2012
Two Louisiana men have been charged with illegally importing live white-tailed deer into Mississippi and according to authorities, some of the deer came from a facility that has tested positive for chronic wasting disease [CWD].
Acting United States Attorney Harold Brittain and Special Agent in Charge Luis Santiago of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, announced this week that [a 75 year old man and a 42 year old man] both residents of Pearl River, Louisiana, were charged with conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act for importing live white-tailed deer into Mississippi.
It is illegal to import live deer into Mississippi and under the Lacey Act, it is against federal law to transport wildlife across state lines that were taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of any law or regulation of any state.
According to a statement released by the Department of Justice, Southern District of Mississippi, from February of 2010 through November of 2012, [2 men] conspired to transport live white-tailed deer in interstate commerce in violation of state and federal laws. [The men] manage a 1031-acre [417.2 ha] high fenced enclosure in Forrest County [Mississippi] known as Turkey Trott Ranch.
The statement alleges that [the men] smuggled the deer into Mississippi for the purposes of breeding, raising, and harvesting trophy deer. It also alleges that in 2012 the defendants learned some of the deer came from a captive herd in Pennsylvania that tested positive for CWD. According to the Criminal Information document filed with the DOJ, [one of the men] released or ordered the release of all deer brought to Turkey Trott Ranch into the enclosure.
Deer in Mississippi battle a number of diseases and develop immunity to some of them. However, Mississippi State University professor of Wildlife Management Steve Demarais said that's not the case with CWD.
"It is a neurological disease that is 100 percent fatal once a deer gets it," Demarais said. "Once a deer gets it, it's dead. It's just a matter of time." And it does take time -- plenty of it. "It takes a long time for the disease to show up in an animal; at least 6 months to a couple of years," Demarais said. "Under normal circumstances deer take at least 18 months to show an effect and they might not die for several years."
The prolonged period that deer can carry the disease becomes a factor in this case. According to the Criminal Information document, [one of the men] began purchasing Pennsylvania deer in January 2012. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, CWD was found at the farm around October of 2012. So, it would appear some of the deer [he] is suspected of purchasing could have been on the CWD-positive Pennsylvania farm at the same time other deer were infected.
But what were they infected with? The disease is caused by a protein called a prion. Demarais said prions are found in all vertebrates, but the prion that causes CWD has an abnormal shape. When it is introduced to deer and other members of the Cervidae family it causes the production of more rogue prions that affect the brain.
"Once the bad prions get into an animal, they cause the brain to get sick," Demarais said. "They allow holes to develop (in the brain). "Think about what a sponge looks like. That's what the brain looks like. It turns a solid brain into the equivalent of a sponge."
Research has shown the disease can be transmitted to non-human primates, but no human cases have been documented. Even so, Demarais said there's no reason to think it can't happen.
"It's morphed and there's nothing to say it won't morph into something that humans are more susceptible to," Demarais said.
