Taxi Mike
10-04-2005, 04:51 PM
Posted on Sunday, October 02, 2005 - 09:49 am: http://www.deer-forums.com/discus/icons/tree_s.gif (http://www.deer-forums.com/cgi-bin/discus/board-profile.cgi?action=editpost&postid=37480&page=2/11957)http://www.deer-forums.com/discus/icons/delmsg.gif (http://www.deer-forums.com/cgi-bin/discus/board-profile.cgi?action=delpost&postid=37480&page=2/11957)http://www.deer-forums.com/discus/icons/printer.gif (http://www.deer-forums.com/discus/messages/2/11957.html?1128301140#)By Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News September 30, 2005
A moose killed in north-central Colorado has tested positive for chronic wasting disease, the first known case of a wild moose contracting the deadly neurological illness.
CWD is typically a disease of deer and elk. But wildlife officials have long wondered whether a moose would contract CWD because all three creatures are in the deer family.Since 2002, hunters submitted 288 moose for CWD testing in Colorado, and none was found to be carrying the disease. The Colorado Division of Wildlife required moose to be tested for CWD beginning in 2003.
"I don't think we were necessarily expecting it," said Kathi Green, disease management coordinator for the DOW. "But we felt like we needed to be looking."
The only other instance of a moose contracting the disease came in captivity. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department intentionally infected a moose with CWD to determine whether it would become ill, said Tyler Baskfield, a division spokesman.
Moose, numbering fewer than 1,300 in Colorado, are far less prevalent than deer and elk, which each number in the hundreds of thousands in the state.
The solitary social habits of moose probably provide some protection from the disease, DOW officials said.
Unlike deer and elk, moose don't form herds or social groups, and are more likely spared transmission of the disease through saliva or contact between live animals, Green said.
The infected moose was taken by an archer in Jackson County, south of Cameron Pass. It was killed in a game management unit with just two known cases of CWD-infected animals since 2002, Green said. But the area, just west of Larimer County, is adjacent to the state's northeast region, traditionally a hot spot for the disease.
The hunter submitted the animal for CWD testing on Sept. 12. Because it was the first moose to show infection, wildlife officials said they would run a second test to confirm the results. It has yet to be done.
It's not clear how the moose may have contracted the disease. Scientists are still studying transmission, but say it's likely animals pass it on through feces, urine, direct contact with infected animals or through infected animals that die in the wild and leave infectious material on the ground.
Overall, rates of infection among deer and elk have fluctuated in recent years, Green said. But the numbers haven't shown any significant changes that allow division scientists to draw conclusions about whether the disease is growing more or less prevalent in the population.
"We need more years of data before you can draw a conclusion like that," Green said.
Animals often don't show signs of CWD until late in the disease's course, when they might stumble when walking, appear emaciated or show other unusual behaviors, scientists say.
The disease has been diagnosed in wild deer and elk in 10 states and two Canadian provinces, according to the DOW. Elk in many captive herds have also been found to carry the disease.
2003: The year the Colorado Division of Wildlife began testing moose for CWD.
hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com (hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com) or 303-892-5048
A moose killed in north-central Colorado has tested positive for chronic wasting disease, the first known case of a wild moose contracting the deadly neurological illness.
CWD is typically a disease of deer and elk. But wildlife officials have long wondered whether a moose would contract CWD because all three creatures are in the deer family.Since 2002, hunters submitted 288 moose for CWD testing in Colorado, and none was found to be carrying the disease. The Colorado Division of Wildlife required moose to be tested for CWD beginning in 2003.
"I don't think we were necessarily expecting it," said Kathi Green, disease management coordinator for the DOW. "But we felt like we needed to be looking."
The only other instance of a moose contracting the disease came in captivity. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department intentionally infected a moose with CWD to determine whether it would become ill, said Tyler Baskfield, a division spokesman.
Moose, numbering fewer than 1,300 in Colorado, are far less prevalent than deer and elk, which each number in the hundreds of thousands in the state.
The solitary social habits of moose probably provide some protection from the disease, DOW officials said.
Unlike deer and elk, moose don't form herds or social groups, and are more likely spared transmission of the disease through saliva or contact between live animals, Green said.
The infected moose was taken by an archer in Jackson County, south of Cameron Pass. It was killed in a game management unit with just two known cases of CWD-infected animals since 2002, Green said. But the area, just west of Larimer County, is adjacent to the state's northeast region, traditionally a hot spot for the disease.
The hunter submitted the animal for CWD testing on Sept. 12. Because it was the first moose to show infection, wildlife officials said they would run a second test to confirm the results. It has yet to be done.
It's not clear how the moose may have contracted the disease. Scientists are still studying transmission, but say it's likely animals pass it on through feces, urine, direct contact with infected animals or through infected animals that die in the wild and leave infectious material on the ground.
Overall, rates of infection among deer and elk have fluctuated in recent years, Green said. But the numbers haven't shown any significant changes that allow division scientists to draw conclusions about whether the disease is growing more or less prevalent in the population.
"We need more years of data before you can draw a conclusion like that," Green said.
Animals often don't show signs of CWD until late in the disease's course, when they might stumble when walking, appear emaciated or show other unusual behaviors, scientists say.
The disease has been diagnosed in wild deer and elk in 10 states and two Canadian provinces, according to the DOW. Elk in many captive herds have also been found to carry the disease.
2003: The year the Colorado Division of Wildlife began testing moose for CWD.
hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com (hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com) or 303-892-5048