AUSTIN – A two-year-old white-tailed deer in a Medina County deer breeding facility has been confirmed positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). This is the first case of CWD detected in captive white-tailed deer in Texas. CWD was first detected in Texas in 2012 in free-ranging mule deer in the Hueco Mountains in far West Texas.
The Medina County tissue samples submitted by the breeder facility in early June as part of routine deer mortality surveillance revealed the presence of CWD during testing at the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) in College Station. The National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, confirmed the findings on Tuesday, June 30.
An epidemiological investigation to determine the extent of the disease, assess risks to Texas’ free ranging deer and protect the captive deer and elk breeding industry is being led by the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), in coordination with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Veterinary Services (USDA/APHIS/VS).
Officials have taken immediate action to secure all cervids at the Medina County breeder facility with plans to conduct additional investigation for CWD. In addition, those breeder facilities that have received deer from the Medina County facility or shipped deer to that facility during the last two years are under movement restrictions and cannot move or release cervids at this time. TPWD is disallowing liberation of captive deer from all breeder facilities into the wild at this time pending further review. Additional measures to further minimize risk of CWD spreading into Texas’ free- ranging white-tailed deer herd, and to protect the captive deer breeding industry, will be considered.
“This is a terribly unfortunate development that we are committed to addressing as proactively, comprehensively, and expeditiously as possible. The health of our state’s wild and captive deer herds, as well as affiliated hunting, wildlife, and rural based economies, are vitally important to Texas hunters, communities, and landowners. As such, our primary objectives are to determine the source of the disease and to identify other deer breeding facilities and release sites that may have received deer from affected facilities,” said Carter Smith, TPWD Executive Director. “Working collaboratively with experts in the field we have developed protocols to address CWD, and our implementation efforts are already well under way.”
Jeff in MN's Link
So it sounds like Texas actually allows release of farm raised deer into the wild. UNBELIEVABLE! Guess that is one way to get large and stupid free roaming bucks on those big dollar Texas 'ranch' hunts. No wonder why baiting appears to work so good on those ranches.
Link is to the Texas bowsite, nothing about it on there yet. Actually there are only 5 threads out there for Texas. Boreing.
Geitz's Link
The good DR finishes that section with the following:
"Hence, it is in my professional opinion, an 8' tall netwire fence, with a 3' outrigger on each side would reduce nose to nose contact between deer at a reliable level."
I cannot speak for him but I don't think many have a "lack of concern" for it. My guess is that while most people are concerned, they are not ready to kill all the deer in order to save the deer.
Can you or anyone else tell me why more efforts are not being made to find a vaccine?
- Has a business model been created to make it profitable for a company to take on the venture of creating the vaccine?
- Would insurance be required that if the vaccine were ingested by animals other than deer (say squirrels or birds), the vaccine creator would not be liable to a civil suit if such vaccine caused illness or death to those it was not intended for? Has that been placed in the business model as it would affect costs?
- Who is going to fund the purchasing of the vaccine and what is the budget? This is obviously not a one-time shot. It would be perpetually needed.
- Who is going to fund the distribution of the vaccine?
- How will the vaccine be distributed?
- Where will the vaccine be distributed?
Answer those questions Captain and you might have answered your own question. The scale of what you are requesting is slightly bigger in scope than opening up a lemonade stand on your neighborhood corner.
Maybe the good DR, a highly educated man who is good at designing fences and feeders, could tackle this one?
If I could answer all those questions I suppose I would be a researcher. Unfortunately, I don't even play one on TV.
