CBS
Disease Similar To Mad Cow Is Affecting
Wild Deer, Elk In U.S.
Chronic Wasting Disease Is In Wild Herds In Neb., Colo., Wyo.
The Disease Was First Noticed In Colorado In 1967
 Jay
Whitlock in a photo before his death from a disease similar to
mad cow.
Although there's
never been a case of mad-cow disease reported in the United States,
a very similar disease that destroys the brain is killing deer
and elk in the American West and it's spreading.
Wyoming state
veterinarian Tom Thorn said that mad cow disease drew a lot of
attention to it. "What we watch for in an affected deer is
kind of a hollow look in their eyes, they drink a lot. They don't
eat very much."
They waste
away, which is why the always-fatal disorder is called Chronic
Wasting Disease, or CWD. The animals also behave strangely, losing
their fear of humans as CWD destroys their brains. But an infected
animal can look totally normal in the early stages of the disease,
when an autopsy can detect it.
CWD was first
noticed at a Colorado research facility in 1967. Mike Miller with
the Colorado Division of Wildlife told a government committee
recently, "What we are seeing is an epidemic occurring in
slow motion."
Scientists
say the epidemic is slowly spreading among wild deer and elk in
Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado, where at least 15 percent of some
wild herds are infected. It's also been found on game farms in
five states and one Canadian province.
In a video
produced by wildlife officials in Colorado and Wyoming, hunters
are told, "relatively little is known about chronic wasting
disease." And they're warned to wear gloves and avoid touching
or eating parts of the animal where the disease is concentrated:
the brain, spinal column, lymph nodes, tonsil, spleen and bone
marrow.
When it was
detected in Montana, drastic measures were taken. Scores of game
farm elk were incinerated. Dozens of deer on nearby land were
hunted by helicopter, killed and tested to keep this highly contagious
disease from spreading.
Hunters are
being used to control the spread of CWD in the wild. In Colorado
the hunting season was extended this year in some disease areas
as a way to try and lower the diseased animal population. Hunters
in some sections of the state must drop off deer heads for CWD
testing. Testing is voluntary in Wyoming and Nebraska.
Wildlife officials
insist that as long as hunters are informed about CWD and take
precautions, the disease is not a human health threat.
Thorn argues,
"You cannot say with 100 percent certainty that it won't
transmit to people, but there is no evidence that it will transmit
to people."
When asked
if he was concerned about CWD, Thorn said, "No. I've lived
here quite a long time. I've hunted here. I just have not seen
any credible evidence that it's going to kill me or anybody else.
Despite all
the official assurances, some hunters and their families fear
eating diseased meat could infect them with the same fatal brain
disorder that's killing deer and elk.
"I've
hunted in this area and I've been eating deer all my life,"
said Chris Melani, who shot a deer in Colorado and, as required,
turned in the head for testing. He says he was told he would be
notified within three weeks if his deer had the disease.
"I didn't
get a notice so I figured everything was ok with the deer. We
started eating it," he said.
Melani, and
his then-pregnant wife Deb, also sent some of the meat to a sausage
maker who sold it to other customers. The Melani's gave their
sausage to friends and family as Christmas presents. Then, almost
two months after his hunt, Melani received a letter.
"I was
shocked when I started reading it, recalls Melani.
His deer had
CWD.(click here to read the letter in .pdf format.)
"What's
done is done. You just go on with your life and hope it's healthy,"
Melani said.
But Jay Whitlock
didn't get to go on with his life.
Jay, an Oklahoma
hunter, was 27 when he developed a brain disorder similar to CWD
and mad cow disease.
Julie Whitlock
said, "Jay's case is not genetic. They have ruled that out.
And they said we'll probably never know actually how Jay did get
it."
Jay Whitlock
died a year after CBS News spoke with him.
His case,
and two others, were discussed at a recent government meeting
on Chronic Wasting Disease.(click here to read the FDA's Agenda
and Briefing Information for the meeting.)
Although the
victims ate deer meat, scientists could not link their deaths
to CWD.
Dr. Ermias
Belayof the CDC told the FDA panel, "However, our conclusions
are limited to three patients and continued surveillance remains
very critical to continue to monitor the possible transmission
of chronic wasting disease to humans."
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