According to a release from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, a mule deer harvested on October 2, 2010, in northeast Wyoming from deer hunt area 18 tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD). CWD is a brain disease known to affect some deer, elk and moose. The deer was harvested 16 miles northeast of Gillette.
According to the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance, cattle and other domestic livestock appear to be resistant to natural infection. There are no reported cases of natural transmission of CWD from infected elk or deer to domestic livestock. However, the disease has been experimentally reproduced in cattle by the direct injection of the infectious agent into their brains. Several investigations are currently underway to further study this question.
© Northern Ag Network 2010
Haylie Shipp
