CHENEY – The state Department of Fish and Wildlife is conducting an intensive surveillance program to monitor possible cases of Chronic Wasting Disease in regional populations of deer, elk, moose, etc.
The monitoring program comes as hunting season gets underway. It is legislatively funded and being implemented after multiple case were found less than 200 miles away in Libby, Mont.
“Chronic Wasting Disease is a definite risk to the area being as close as Libby,” Spokane District Wildlife Biologist Michael Atamian said.
Atamian is the biologist for District No. 2 in Washington, and he said the program will primarily be monitoring wildlife in Spokane, Stevens, Pend O’Reille, Lincoln, and Whitman counties.
Deer, elk, and moose populations are still good so hunters should see a fair season, although whitetail numbers may be down due to a surge in Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease and Bluetongue cases this year, Atamian said. The department has monitored these ailments for decades and the cases always increase during drought years.
The biologist explained chronic wasting disease affects mule deer and whitetail populations and is considered a “prion” disease, meaning it is not bacterial or viral, but rather caused by a misfolded protein. These mutated proteins can quickly spread because of the methods they can transfer.
There is no way to cure or effectively clear the disease from an infected population, according to the biologist.
“These prions are transmittable deer-to-deer and can persist in the environment creating environment-to-deer transmission, as well,’ Atamian said. “The proteins can also remain in animal parts, organs, fluids that may end up in scent baits creating another mode of transmission for the disease,”
Previously, The department ran intensive surveillance for several years with no positive cases, he said. Since that time, biologists have been focusing on finding animals that show clinical signs of the disease, such as emaciated animals, or wildlife that seem extremely confused, and in extreme cases the animals can appear “zombie-like” Atamian said.
Chronic Wasting Disease can be easy to confuse with the other ailments currently affecting regional deer populations, as well.
“Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease and bluetongue cases have also spiked this year and although they can show similar clinical symptoms there are major differences to look for,” he said. Both species can also contract Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, but whitetail deer tend to die from it easier.
“In the case of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, white-tailed deer tend to have higher mortality and mule deer experience higher morbidity, but mule deer can and have died of EHD. I suspect with increased frequencies of hot and dry weather due to climate change; we expect to see more frequent outbreaks of EHD,” agency Ungulate Research Scientist Melia DeVivo said.
“These hemorrhagic diseases affect whitetail deer more often are unique in which the animals contract the disease and typically die quickly without losing much of their physical integrity,” Atamian said. “The animals die but they look healthy with these illnesses, but it is different with Chronic Wasting Disease. The animals carry it for a long time, and eventually become very emaciated and unhealthy in appearance.”
The department encourages hunters to bring animals to nearby check stations to have samples tested.
Other precautionary measures the department is informing hunters about include avoiding the harvesting of any animal that seems to be acting strangely, wearing disposable gloves and cleaning hands and sterilizing equipment while processing animals, avoiding the consumption of parts where the prions gather such as the brain, spinal cord, lymph nodes, eyes, or other susceptible organs. The department also states a general precaution to follow is to not cut into the brains, bones, or spinal cord to reduce the chance of spreading chronic wasting disease.
The department will have specific times and stations set up for hunters to go have samples taken and tested for chronic wasting disease. The stations and times are listed below:
Colville, WDFW District Office, 755 S. Main Street, Colville, WA 99114
Chewelah, Intersection of Sand Canyon Road and Highway 395, DOT Gravel Lot
Deer Park, Weigh Station, 65 N. Arlington Rd, Deer Park, WA 99006
Ione, Tiger Store/Museum, 390372 State Route 20, Cusick, WA 99119
Usk, Crossroads Restaurant, 421341 State Route 20, Usk, WA 99180
Highway 2 Weigh Station - Across highway from Spokane Regional Solid Waste
Saturday, October 16 - Sunday, October 17, 2021 9:30 am - 8:00 pm
Saturday, October 23 - Sunday, October 24, 2021 9:30 am - 8:00 pm
Saturday, November 6 - Sunday, November 7, 2021 9:30 am - 8:00 pm
Friday, November 12 - Sunday, November 14, 2021 9:30 am - 7:00 pm
Thursday, November 18 - Friday, November 19, 2021 9:30 am - 7:00 pm
Matthew O. Stephens can be reached at [email protected]
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