MULE DEER BUCK HARVESTED NEAR LYSITE TESTS POSITIVE FOR CWD

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A mule deer buck harvested in hunt area 39 near Bull Mountain, about 23 miles north of Lysite, has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a brain disease known to affect some deer, elk and moose. This is the first time that CWD has been detected in hunt area 39.

Personnel at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department Laboratory analyzed samples taken as part of the department's annual CWD survey and discovered positive results for the deer.

Hunt area 39 is bordered by endemic areas 164 and 37 that have had deer test positive for CWD in previous years.

After a review of available scientific data, the World Health Organization in December 1999 stated, "There is currently no evidence that CWD in cervidae (deer and elk) is transmitted to humans." In 2004, Dr. Ermias Belay of the Center for Disease Control said, "The lack of evidence of a link between CWD transmission and unusual cases of CJD, [Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a human prion disease] despite several epidemiological investigations, suggest that the risk, if any, of transmission of CWD to humans is low." Nonetheless to avoid risk, both organizations say parts or products from any animal that looks sick and/or tests positive for CWD should not be eaten.
For more information on chronic wasting disease visit the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website at www.cwd-info.org.

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