Becky Gillette – Recent discoveries of one elk and one white-tailed deer in Newton County with chronic wasting disease (CWD) have elevated consternation that the fatal infectious illness could spread, decimating elk and deer populations across the state. In addition to concerns about impacts on wildlife, deer hunting has a major economic impact on the state accounting for an estimated $370.6 million in annual retail sales in Arkansas.
“Hunting is a large sport in Arkansas that generates millions of dollars and can affect the local economy,” said Eureka Springs Mayor Butch Berry, who is a deer hunter. “Many communities depend on hunting season to help support their local economy.”
Berry said if the disease spreads, hunting as it has been known for generations in Arkansas could completely change.
According to the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, the disease belongs to a family known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies or prion diseases. Prions are irregularly shaped proteins. The disease is 100 percent fatal. CWD is similar to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) in cattle and scrapie in sheep.
There are currently no confirmed cases of a human contracting illness from eating infected deer or elk meat, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that foodborne transmission of mad cow disease to humans indicates the species barrier may not completely protect humans from animal prion diseases.
“Conversion of human prion protein by CWD-associated prions has been demonstrated in an in-vitro cell-free experiment, but limited investigations have not identified strong evidence for CWD transmission to humans,” the CDC states.
According to AG&F, studies have shown that the disease can be spread both directly (animal-to-animal contact) and indirectly (through soil or other surfaces).
“The most common mode of transmission from an infected animal is believed to be through saliva, feces and possibly other body secretions,” AG&F states. “There is strong evidence that people have helped spread the disease over long distances by moving live infected animals and infected carcasses.”
Randy Zellers, assistant chief of communications for AG&F, said officials have been meeting weekly in Jasper regarding a sampling program put in place to monitor whether the disease is spreading. Plans put into effect years ago are now being used to respond to the threat.
“As of Friday, March 18, we had 138 of the 300 deer we are sampling,” Zellers said. “They have been sent off for testing, but it takes a week to a week and a half to get test results. We are waiting to hear back on the first round of testing sometime this week.”
If tests come back negative, meat harvested from the deer will be donated to landowners where the deer were harvested or to Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry, a group that supplies meat to food pantries across the state.
“As soon as it comes back as non CWD, we can release that meat,” Zellers said. “If it comes back positive, we will immediately incinerate the meat and sterilize the area where it was stored. All carcass remains, including bones, are incinerated as soon as the meat is deboned.”
Zellers said it was only a matter of time before CWD, which is found in 23 states, was found in Arkansas.
“This is sooner than we thought it would be, which isn’t to say we weren’t prepared for it,” Zellers said. “In 2006 we first created a plan for when it did show up. The plan is available on our website. This won’t be the end of hunting deer or elk in Arkansas.”
Humans who eat meat from cows with mad cow disease can contract Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. Zellers said there is no confirmed link from CWD jumping over to humans as Creutzfeldt–Jakob did.
“CWD has been around since the 1960s and there have been no spikes or rises in Creutzfeldt–Jakob in areas where people are consuming deer meat,” he said. “However, if any is animal visibly sick, it is not a good idea to eat that animal. That’s common sense.”
While the disease can be spread by feeding deer or elk, hunters in Arkansas are still allowed to bait the deer by putting out food.
“However, feeders can cause deer to group together unnaturally, and there is a lot of nose-to-nose feeding that can increase the possibility of spreading any disease,” Zellers said. “If one animal has it, it is very easy for the rest to get it when they are concentrated like that. It is just like a day care or school. When a lot of people are concentrated in one spot and one comes in with flu, everyone gets the flu.”
Some people feed deer because they enjoy looking at them, and may think they are helping the deer. “But that is not the way it is meant to be,” Zellers said. “Sometimes it can do damage when it comes to feeding wild animals.”
Deer feeding was banned in Eureka Springs in 2010 after complaints that residents feeding the deer was causing a nuisance because deer were decimating neighbor’s gardens. Ordinance 2123 makes deer feeding a misdemeanor that, upon conviction, can be punished by a fine of $100 for the first offense and $200 for a second or subsequent offense occurring within one year from conviction of the previous offense, plus court costs. However, some residents might be unaware of the ordinance as there are reports of deer feeding continuing throughout town.
This disease is really scary.