- State wildlife officials are scrambling for answers after
a "brainworm" never before found in Alaska apparently killed
at least two moose--and maybe more--near Delta Junction.
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- Biologists and veterinarians are investigating the deaths
of five other moose in the area, one of which appears to have exhibited
the same odd behavior as the two moose killed by the parasite. Those moose
were seen stumbling around just hours before they died.
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- "We have not documented this type of worm causing
disease or death in Alaskan moose in the past, but that may be because
we haven't looked closely enough," wildlife veterinarian Kimberlee
Beckmen with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said in a press release
issued late Thursday.
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- "We need to study more samples to determine if it's
a new occurrence, or if it's been here all along," said Beckmen, who
was on Barter Island Friday and could not be reached for this story.
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- Wildlife officials are trying to figure out whether the
parasite poses a danger to moose around the state.
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- The biggest fear is that the parasite is meningeal worm,
a parasite commonly found in white-tailed deer in the Lower 48 that has
been known to infect moose and elk. While the worm is not fatal in deer,
it can kill moose, caribou, reindeer and other ruminants.
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- "If it were meningeal worm, that would be a disaster
for Alaska moose populations," said Randy Zarnke, a retired state
wildlife biologist who spent 23 years at Fish and Game in Fairbanks as
a disease specialist. "When it gets in moose, it just tears them up."
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- At the same time, Zarnke said it "would really be
jumping to conclusions saying it is meningeal worm" without further
tests to confirm it.
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- Officials know the parasite is a roundworm and that it
is transmitted to moose through larvae shed in moose feces that are picked
up by snails and slugs, which are eaten by other moose as they browse.
Once inside the animal, the parasite migrates into the brain and attacks
the central nervous system.
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- "It's way too premature to panic about what it is
and what it might be," said fish and game public information officer
Cathie Harms. "We know what family it's in and what genera it's in,
but we don't have a species yet."
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- The worm is not the same parasite that causes chronic
wasting disease in deer and elk in the Lower 48 and poses no health risk
for people, livestock or dogs, said Harms.
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- What has wildlife officials nervous is that at least
two of the moose that died demonstrated symptoms similar to those caused
by meningeal worm, including stumbling and lethargy.
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- Biologists received the first report of a moose stumbling
around a little more than a month ago.
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- "Somebody called us and said they had a moose out
in a hay field that was kind of stumbling around and being fairly lethargic,"
said Steve DuBois with ADF&G in Delta. "I told them to watch it
a day or two and let us know how it turned out, and it died."
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- Biologists retrieved the moose and a week later got another
report of a moose in the same area displaying similar behavior. That moose
laid down in a driveway and died, DuBois said.
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- Both moose appeared to be in good physical condition,
he said.
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- The parasite was found in the brain of the second moose
and chances are the first moose to die was infected, too, based on its
behavior, said DuBois.
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- Biologists have since located five more dead moose in
Delta. One of those appears to have gone through the same kind of pre-death
ritual of stumbling around, judging from tracks near the body, he said.
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- Tissue samples from those five moose are being analyzed
and results should be available within the next month.
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- "At this point we don't even know if all the moose
we have found all have died from this," said DuBois.
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- Three of the dead moose were found in the Tanana Loop
area where there are several dairy and game farms. But Harms declined to
speculate whether the parasite could have been transmitted to the moose
by livestock or through one of several elk farms in the area.
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- "Those are all things we have to look at,"
she said.
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- While winter-kill moose carcasses are a common sight
around Alaska each spring, most of the time their deaths are attributed
to starvation. Judging from what biologists have seen in Delta this spring,
though, that may not be the case.
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- "Every year at this time of year we get dead moose
carcasses in lots of places," said Harms. "It's easy to say it's
winter die-off but a lot of them might not have died from starvation."
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- Biologists are asking people to report any sick or dead
moose they see so tissue samples can be taken to see if the deaths are
related.
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- "We'd like to take a closer look at these animals
while the tissue is fresh enough so we can still perform a necropsy and
look for signs of the parasite," said DuBois.
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- Sightings of moose carcasses or strangely behaving moose
can be reported to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game office in Delta
Junction at (907) 895-4484 or the Fairbanks office at (907) 459-7206.
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- News-Miner outdoors editor Tim Mowry can be reached via
e-mail at <mailto:tmowry@newsminer.com>tmowry@newsminer.com or at
459-7587.
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- ©2004 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Fairbanks Daily
News-Miner, Inc.
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