What you need to know about MDC in Deer in Missouri

Until now, the wild deer population of Missouri remains relatively safe from the MDC – only 75 confirmed cases have been discovered since the state conservation department recorded the first case in the wild in 2012. But that's what happened in other states worries wildlife biologists in Missouri.

In Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, western Kansas and southern Wisconsin, CWD is widely distributed in wild deer and elk herds. In the past two years, an MDC outbreak in northwestern Arkansas resulted in 370 positive tests, mostly in the region's deer.

An emaciated Kansas deer suffering from MDC. (Photo: MDC)

According to Jasmine Batten, Missouri Wildlife Disease Coordinator, responsible for fighting wildlife diseases, the state has yet to put in place an effective and proven method to end the MDC but a controversial method seems promising.

When CWD is discovered in Missouri, the Department of Conservation targets deer within one to five miles of the positive test site. Landowners and MDC staff are slaughtering a number of deer in these areas, both to test them and to kill more deer that have been exposed to this disease.

The process calls for targeted slaughter.

Fewer infected deer in the population can help slow the spread of the disease and limit the amount of CWD in soil, plants, and water. At least that's the theory, Batten notes, adding that not all deer are killed in a reform area.

"We have learned a lot from the state of Illinois, which has been eliminating deer for 16 years or more," Batten said. "Slaughtering reduces the prevalence of CWD, particularly compared to its northern neighbor (Wisconsin) .When the disease becomes too prevalent, the chances of limiting it actually decrease."

Wisconsin tried the reform but ended the practice after deer hunters and landowners demonstrated. The state has returned to the surveillance of the MDC. The result: the MDC began to spread again after stopping the reform.

In Missouri, MDC staff and landowners who have agreed to participate in targeted killing have killed about 4,600 deer since the slaughter started in 2013. The MDC has spent $ 2.15 million slaughtering efforts, which include the cost of laboratory testing, staff time and payments to meat processors.

MDC-free meat is delivered to landowners or donated to the MDC Share the Harvest program.

Contaminated meat is destroyed.

During the hunting seasons, landowners located in the designated central areas of the MDC can also obtain up to five "MDC management seals" from the MDC, which allows them to take more deer than they can. an ordinary deer license. MDC reimburses the landowner $ 60 per deer for the cost of processing the meat.

The purpose of these seals is to help reduce the number of deer in which the disease has been found and to test more deer to determine how much the disease has infected the deer in these areas.

Eliminating 4,600 deer in the past five years may seem like a lot, but it's a small number compared to the 1.36 million deer that Missouri hunters have killed at roughly the same time.

If slaughter helps slow the spread of CWD in Missouri, it's worth it, Batten said.

"We are absolutely concerned that the CWD could pose a threat to Missouri's long-term hunting culture," she said. "But it's obvious that in these very localized areas where MDC has been confirmed, the owners who are involved are making great sacrifices, and the density of deer will decrease in these areas of reform, but our goal is to slow down or slow down. stop the spread. "

How CWD works

MDC is caused by a strange deformed protein called a prion that can be passed from deer to deer through physical contact. It is also spread through contact with soil, food and water contaminated with stool, urine, saliva and infected deer carcasses.

Velvet that dollars wipe out of their new woods? CWD can be transmitted in this flexible material. Batten said it was possible, although less likely, that the trail of blood left by a wounded deer infected with CWD could transmit the disease to other deer.

An MDC-infected deer will lose weight and stagger, eventually dying from the disease. Perhaps more importantly, once a deer dies, these prions can remain in the soil long after the deer decomposes and continue to infect other deer.

Even forest fires are not hot enough to kill prions in the environment.

Another problem with CWD is that it takes 18 months or more for an infected deer to look visibly ill. Meanwhile, however, he continues to spread prions into the environment.

A growing problem in 23 states

In the United States, CWD has been found in 23 states and continues to spread, according to Kip Adams, a spokesperson for the Quality Deer Management Association. The Georgia-based QDMA works with hunters, landowners and state conservation organizations to improve the habitat and health of wild deer.

"CWD is one of the biggest threats to hunting and deer management programs," Adams said. "We are seeing a decrease in the population in deer herds, especially in Wyoming, and states failing to keep it out of their borders."

Missouri hopes to put an end to what has happened elsewhere. In states like Colorado, Wyoming and Wisconsin, where the MDC is now deeply rooted, deer herds are declining. In Wyoming, according to conservation figures, 19% of wild deer herds die each year from CWD.

While deer hunting is declining across the country for many reasons, the prevalence of CWD in popular hunting areas is one of them. There is concern that the fear of eating CWD-contaminated deer or elk will discourage others from playing the sport.

CWD: Can the chronic debilitating disease go from deer to man? Concerns are steadily increasing

Adams said that it was thought that MDC could have gone from deer to captivity in Colorado in the 1960s, probably because of a mutated version of scrapie, a neurological disease caused by prions in the sheep.

"They suspect that he has moved from these captive deer to the wild population," Adams said. "Deer, elk and moose are the only animals that contract CWD, and elk are not as sensitive as deer."

He said that the MDC's intense efforts to sample cervids for CWD – as well as its killing efforts where CWD is detected – is a good approach.

"Nobody in the country takes as many deer as the MDC," he said.

The MDC started testing the presence of CWD in deer in 2001, after seeing the disease spread to neighboring states. It is now encouraging voluntary testing on hunter-killed deer, as well as mandatory testing in 31 counties where CWD has been confirmed or likely to occur, such as southern counties bordering Arkansas.

It is true that no human being contracted the MDC after handling or eating an infected deer, Mr. Adams said the CDC warning against contaminated meat consumption by the MDC should be strictly followed.

"We do not know that this barrier will always be like this," he said.

First contact in Missouri

How did CWD come to Missouri? This is a troubling question, according to Batten of the MDC.

She added that the first confirmed case was discovered in 2010 in a herd of captive deer at a big game game preserve in northwestern Missouri.

"This detection behind the fence has triggered broader testing on our wild herd," said Batten. "In 2012, we had five wild deer positives one or two miles from this positive reserve, and we think it's a likely vector, but we can not say for sure that it's from there." the deer come. "

The captive deer on the reservation were destroyed, said Batten.

Once in the wild deer of Missouri, CWD began to appear in the pockets around the state. Batten said it was unlikely that the disease would spread in the herd of about 1.2 million Missouri deer through the natural dispersal of deer. It is likely that humans contribute to the spread of the disease, possibly by moving carcasses of infected deer.

"It is spreading slowly in the environment," Batten said. "We know the state is progressing in this state, but we can not say for sure how it is spreading.We can not assume either that the disease was introduced in the state only the first time . "

The possible link between captive deer and CWD prompted the Missouri Conservation Commission in 2015 to tighten rules for companies holding or raising deer in captivity.

According to the MDC, in July, Missouri had 44 licensed big game reserves and 138 authorized wild game breeders with white-tailed deer. These operators reported that about 150 captive deer had escaped into the wild between 2012 and 2014.

Several Missouri deer farmers and big game hunters have sued MDC, claiming that captive deer were cattle, not wild animals, beyond the authority of MDC.

They were successful in obtaining an injunction to prevent the application of more stringent regulations.

But in July, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in favor of the MDC, giving it full regulatory control over deer and elk in captivity and maintaining the stricter rules approved by the conservation commission in 2015.

Now that he understands the impact of CWD on wild deer in Missouri, the MDC is proposing several new regulations to slow the spread of the disease.

The ministry will hear publicly comments on the proposals, and as soon as possible so that a rule could come into effect would be in the fall of 2019.

Efforts in progress

MDC conducts a mandatory CWD sampling during the deer opening season in the Whetstone Creek Conservation Area in Williamsburg. The deer neck tissue is removed for laboratory testing. (Photo: MDC)

MDC offers free sampling and analysis of cervids harvested throughout the state, throughout the deer hunting season, which lasts until January 15th. Sampling is voluntary and hunters can also get free test results for their deer.

Hunters can have their deer sampled at 11 selected MDC offices in the state. Hunters can also take their deer to 64 participating taxidermists and meat processors located in the 48 counties of the MDC MDC Management Zone.

Hunters can get test results from their sampled cervids for on-line MDC screening at the address mdc.mo.gov/CWDTestResults.

Mandatory sampling of the MOC on 10 and 11 November

The MDC will again conduct mandatory MDC sampling in 31 of the 48 counties in its MDC management area during the opening weekend of the fall deer season, November 10th and 11th.

Counties include new members added to the CWD management area, counties with previous CWD positives and counties very close to the previous positives.

The 31 counties for which CWD sampling is mandatory are: Adair, Barry, Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Cedar, Cole, Crawford, Franklin, Grundy, Hickory, Jefferson, Knox, Linn, Macon, Madison, McDonald, Mercer, Moniteau , Ozark, Perry, Polk, Putnam, St Charles, St Clair, St Francis, Ste. Genevieve, Stone, Sullivan, Taney, Warren and Washington.
Hunters who harvest deer in these counties on November 10 and 11 must bring their deer – or head with at least 6 inches of neck in place – on the day of harvest in one of the 61 stations. Mandatory sampling of the MDC. Deer can be presented at any mandatory sampling station.

Find locations for mandatory MDC sampling at mdc.mo.gov/cwd under "Mandatory MOC Sampling November 10-11."

Proper disposal of deer to limit CWD

MDC reminds deer hunters that it is important to properly dispose of harvested deer carcasses to limit the spread of disease caused by chronic wasting. MDC also reminds hunters who harvest deer, elk or moose outside of Missouri and bring them back to comply with applicable regulations to limit the spread of CWD.

To avoid this risk of exposure, MDC recommends the following carcass disposal methods:

• Place in garbage or landfill: The best way to prevent the spread of CWD is to place carcass remains in garbage bags and dispose of them in garbage collection or in an authorized landfill;
• Burying on the site: If you can not put your garbage in a garbage can or in an authorized landfill, bury the carcass remains where the deer was harvested or nearby. Bury deep enough to prevent access to the recuperators. The burial will reduce but will not eliminate the risk of spreading the MDC;
• Leave on the spot: as a last resort, leave the carcass on the site. This will not prevent looters from cleaning up potentially infectious parts, but the remains will remain in the area where the deer has been caught. If the MDC is already present in this zone, it will probably remain there and not be moved to another zone;
• Do not place in water: It is illegal to throw carcasses or remains in streams, ponds or other water bodies;
• Do not burn: Only commercial incinerators up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit can generate enough heat long enough to destroy MDC prions.

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