Wasting disease not found in deer

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Tests from more than 10,000 deer killed last year in Missouri found no evidence of chronic wasting disease, the state conservation department said Friday.

"This is not a guarantee that chronic wasting disease doesn't exist somewhere in Missouri," said Lonnie Hansen, a resource scientist with the department, "but it tells us that the state appears to be CWD free. Now we just need to be vigilant and try to keep it that way."

Laboratories tested tissue samples from 10,352 deer killed in 54 counties during the 2004 firearms deer season. It was the third and final year of testing for chronic wasting disease. All told, Missouri tested samples from 22,000 deer and none had the disease, the Conservation Department said.

The state plans to continue testing for the disease only when sickly animals turn up.

Chronic wasting disease is a neurological ailment in a family of diseases that includes scrapies in sheep and mad cow disease in cattle. Deer that contract chronic wasting disease die within two years.

Hansen said Missouri's vigilance must include hunters as well as operators of facilities that keep deer and elk captive. He urged anyone who observes sickly deer to report them immediately to the nearest Conservation Department office.

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On the Net:

Wasting Disease: http://mdc.mo.gov/hunt/cwd