Legislation aimed at protecting deer herds from fatal disease
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture would be eligible to apply for a federal grant to conduct research into chronic wasting disease (CWD) in whitetail deer and elk if a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-15th, becomes law.
The Bellefonte congressman recently introduced House Bill 2081 with bipartisan support. Known as the Chronic Wasting Disease Act, the bill would provide up to $15 million through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to state agriculture departments, universities and independent research centers.
The money would go toward finding a cure and ways to prevent the spread of the neurological disease affecting deer herds across the country that causes brain damage and results in death.
“We need more research to determine what is causing this,” Thompson said. “Is there a way to prevent it? Is there a better way to manage it? That's what this bill does.”
While the Pennsylvania Game Commission is not directly eligible for the grants, the agency runs the wild deer and elk CWD program. The state Department of Agriculture, on the other hand, has purview over the CWD program for captive deer and elk in hunting preserves, deer farms and hobby farms.
Shannon Powers, a spokesman with the Department of Agriculture, stressed how her department and the game commission both play vital roles in disease control. She added that the agencies often work together.
Powers wasn't familiar with the legislation by Thompson, but said the department would consider applying for a grant if it becomes law. The bill would provide funding to support a measure the congressman added to the 2018 Farm Bill that elevated CWD to priority status within the USDA for research. He said the Department of Agriculture, universities or private research centers could partner with the game commission to conduct research.
“Our game commission is trusted with managing our deer heard and our elk herd, but when it comes to research there's lot of talent out there,” Thompson said. “We want to make use of them through partnership. They could partner with the game commission. There's no limit on collaboration.”
Neither the department nor the commission have reported finding deer with CWD in Butler County, but the disease has been detected in two captive deer in Jefferson County and one wild deer in Clearfield County.
“If it's that close I'd consider it knocking on the door,” said Ernie Obman, a hunter from Harrisville. “It would be nice if they got more allocated for that to find out what's going on.”
He said the disease could ruin deer hunting if something isn't done.
The game commission takes samples from deer at processors to monitor the spread of the disease, according to Courtney Colley, the game commission's CWD communications specialist. Samples are taken randomly from processors, road killed deer and escaped captive deer.
“We monitor CWD statewide, so we do take samples from Butler County and all counties,” Colley said. “A perfectly healthy looking deer can be infected.”
Colley said infected deer begin exhibiting symptoms of CWD 18 months to two years after being infected. Symptoms include loss of body condition, excessive salivation, droopy ears and abnormal behavior, such as walking in circles. This behavior occurs because the disease causes microscopic holes in the brain.
Animals infected with other diseases can show the same symptoms and the commission recommends that hunters not harvest, handle or consume any animal that appears sick. People who see a deer that appears sick should call the game commission, which in turn will try to harvest the animal and have it tested.
Because infected deer were discovered in Jefferson and Clearfield counties, both are now designated as a disease management area (DMA) by the commission.
There are three other DMAs in the state, all in southcentral and southeastern Pennsylvania. The game commission released recommendations for hunters harvesting deer in the DMAs, and urges them to have their deer tested through its free program.
Owners of captive deer herds are required to follow Department of Agriculture rules.
“No incidents have been identified in Butler County,” Thompson said. “If allowed to expand and not be effectively managed and mitigated, the economic impact could be devastating because CWD is always fatal in the end for these animals.”
According to the Department of Agriculture, CWD is not transmittable to people or traditional livestock. The disease was first detected in 1967 and no human has ever been infected. However, Colley pointed out that it is related to mad cow disease, which can infect humans.
The CDC said there may be a risk to people because studies suggest CWD poses a risk to some types of non-human primates, such as monkeys, that eat meat from CWD-infected animals or come into contact with brain or body fluids from infected deer or elk.
All deer in hunting preserves — whether harvested or dying of natural causes — must be tested for CWD, according to Powers.
