- Official release from the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources
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- MADISON, WI: A 3 year old
female deer shot by a village police officer in a Fontana city park has
tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD). The site of the kill
is about 2 miles outside of Wisconsin's current CWD herd reduction zone.
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- "While this is certainly disappointing, this news
is not unexpected," said Tom Hauge, director of wildlife management
at the Department of Natural Resources. "We consider the Walworth
County deer population to be at higher risk for having CWD."
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- The Walworth County area is considered at higher risk
for CWD because the disease has been confirmed in deer not far across the
border in northern Illinois. There are also 2 quarantined captive deer
farms in Walworth County, one of which had confirmed CWD-positive deer.
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- "We do not know how this deer became sick,"
said Hauge. "We will learn as much as we can from this deer and formulate
a specific plan for more intensive surveillance in the area where this
positive deer was found. When we get sufficient information, we will decide
on what the next steps should be."
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- The positive deer was noticed to look sick and reported
to a conservation warden on March 6 by a Fontana police officer. The conservation
warden requested that the police shoot the deer. A conservation warden
then picked up the carcass for sampling by the DNR and testing by the Wisconsin
Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
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- To date, more than 42 000 deer have been tested in Wisconsin.
In 2003, hunters will be asked to provide deer for testing in selected
areas of the state where wildlife managers and researchers would like to
add to last year,s data. Some car killed deer and deer identified as sick
looking continue to be sampled and tested.
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- "Thanks to efforts of hunters and citizens across
the state, we had very good testing last year," said Hauge. "Walworth
County was already designated for continued surveillance this fall because
of its higher risk status and to add more data to our surveillance picture.
Finding this deer supports that decision. One of the things we will want
to do soon is combine our existing surveillance data with Illinois to get
a better picture of the intensity and likely distribution of CWD in this
border area."
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- This brings the number of confirmed CWD positive deer
found in Wisconsin to 208. The first deer to test positive for the fatal
neurological disease were reported in February.
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- DNR Central Office - Madison PO Box 7921 Madison WI 53707
Contact(s): Tom Hauge, director, Bureau of Wildlife Management Julie Langenberg,
wildlife veterinarian
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- Patricia A. Doyle, PhD Please visit my "Emerging
Diseases" message board at: http://www.clickitnews.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=emergingdiseases
Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health
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