Michigan case brings to 20 the number of states with disease confirmed in wild herds
Even casual Mississippi deer hunters are concerned about news that Michigan has confirmed its first case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in its wild deer population.
An antlerless deer, reported by the public as acting strange and showing no fear of humans, was euthanized by wildlife officials in April in a suburb of Lansing. Several rounds of tests confirmed the doe had CWD, it was announced last week.
Even though only one animal has been found, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources immediately enacted its CWD Response Plan — it’s been in place for 12 years, partly because the always-fatal disease has been confirmed in deer at breeding facilities in the state.
Under the plan, the agency will do a quick population survey of the immediate area where the deer was found — Meridian Township, which is near Lansing — and establish a core zone involving three counties.
In those areas, unlimited antlerless permits will be issued to basically eliminate as much as the deer herd as possible. A total ban on feeding and baiting deer has been instituted.
As one biologist from Michigan DNR put it: “We know two things about CWD. It spreads, and it gets worse.”
And there’s this: The disease that affects all cervids has a 100 percent mortality rate.
And, this: Michigan is the 20th state to confirm CWD in a wild cervid.
High-fence concerns
It’s a scary proposition that so many states now report CWD.
“If it’s so bad that (Michigan officials) basically plan to kill as many deer as possible in the affected area, then certainly we don’t want it here,” said Jerry Barnhill of Jackson. “Deer hunting is not just a sport in Mississippi; it’s a business and a big part of our society. Anything that would threaten that is a cause for concern.
“Imagine if CWD was found in, say, the Delta or the Big Black River bottoms and our wildlife officials said we had to kill off all the deer in either or both of those areas? Or what if it turned up in Southwest Mississippi or the Black Belt Prairies. Any area of the state that saw its deer hunting industry lost would suffer greatly.”
Ronnie Cole of Hattiesburg said Mississippi should act now to end the practice of what he called “high-fence hunting.”
“If you look at all those upper Midwest states that are considered CWD-positive states (see map) in their wild herds, every single one of them has a history of CWD in captive populations,” Cole said. “Many of those captive populations are high-fenced ‘deer farms.’ Why we ever started allowing that to take place is beyond my comprehension.
“We knew it was a problem before it was legalized, but I guess if you have enough money and clout, then common sense is out the window.”
Mississippi and federal wildlife officials do take it seriously, as a recent case indicates.
In 2014, state and federal wildlife officers and investigators arrested, charged and followed through with adjudication in a case of a high-fenced property operation of importing deer from two northern states and running a breeding facility. One of those states was Indiana, which is CWD free but surrounded by states that are not, and the other was Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania is among the state with CWD confirmations in both captive and wild deer.
That’s why the federal court in Biloxi came down hard on three Louisiana men despite guilty pleas on charges that included violation of the federal Lacey Act.
* Brian Reine, 44, who pled guilty to the felony offense of importing white-tailed deer, was sentenced to nine months in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons and two years of supervised release.
* Ronald Reine, 67, Brian’s father, who pled guilty to the misdemeanor offense of importing white-tailed deer, was sentenced to three years of probation, six months home confinement and a $10,000 fine.
* Bruce Swilley, who pled guilty to the misdemeanor offense of importing white-tailed deer, was sentenced to three years of probation, nine months home confinement and a $10,000 fine.
* Their closely held corporation, Omni Pinnacle, LLC, pled guilty to a felony and was sentenced to five years of probation.
* All defendants were ordered to pay $1.5 million in restitution to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.
Each defendant forfeited all interest in the white-tailed deer, a truck used to transport the deer to Mississippi and a deer-breeding facility.
A high-fence correlation
Are high-fence, or captive breeding operations, a threat in Mississippi?
Cole said that the above case shows that they are.
“I’m glad they caught those guys, but how many are out there doing the same thing that haven’t been caught?” Cole said. “The key to it, in my opinion, is the high fence. Without the high fences and the security of the enclosure they provide, there’s no incentive for importing deer from anywhere for the purpose of breeding in Mississippi.”
A search of the CWD Alliance database shows there is a correlation of breeding farms and the spread of disease to the wild population.
Missouri, the closest state to Mississippi geographically and alphabetically, reported 14 new cases of CWD in 2014-15, bringing the total to 24 wild deer confirmed since 2010.
CWD was first confirmed in Missouri at a private hunting preserve in 2010 in the northern tier county of Linn.
In Iowa, wildlife officials once found that 284 out of 356 (79.8 percent) deer among one quarantined captive herd tested positive for CWD, a clear indication that a concentration of deer can lead to an outbreak.
It’s the spread to wild herds that causes the most alarm.
Like Michigan, most CWD states take drastic measures to corral any outbreaks in wild herds. Part of most plans is killing as many deer as possible in the area, bordering on eradication.
Even when, or if, the infected population is controlled, there’s still a problem of possible infection. The prions, or tiny protein particles that carry the disease, can remain active in the soil for several years.
It’s a wicked disease.
FACTOID
What is CWD?
Chronic Wasting Disease infects only deer and other members of the deer family including elk, by causing degeneration of the brain. The disease has no vaccine or cure and is 100-percent fatal.
It is believed that CWD prions (protein particles) are spread both directly through animal-to-animal contact and indirectly from soil or other surfaces to animal. Prions are likely shed through the saliva and feces, and urine of deer.
Prions can remain infective in the soil for several years.
