Deer disease found in Iowa

The Department of Natural Resources has confirmed the first case of the always fatal chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a wild Iowa deer.

The deer was harvested in Allamakee County during the first shotgun season in early December, the DNR said.

The highly contagious neurological disorder has been confirmed in 13 captive Iowa deer in three different facilities since July 2012, when the first case was recorded at a pay-to-shoot preserve in Davis County.

DNR spokesman Kevin Baskins said the agency is gathering information about the infected deer to implement an effective response.

'We will try to avoid extreme measures, but we're not ruling out special hunts if it is determined the size of the herd needs to be reduced in that area,” Baskins said.

The disease already had been detected in every state bordering Iowa.

That being the case, 'we have understood the possibility of a positive detection in the wild deer herd for some time,” DNR Director Chuck Gipp said.

Baskins said it's not surprising that the first wild deer confirmation occurred in Allamakee County, which is close to confirmed infections in southeast Minnesota and southwest Wisconsin.

'We have been testing for CWD in Iowa's deer herd for more than a decade and are optimistic, given the extensive data we have collected, that we have caught this early,” Gipp said.

Since 2002, the DNR has collected more than 45,000 samples statewide and 650 samples of deer from within a five-mile radius of where the deer is believed to have been harvested.

Baskins said the DNR is awaiting results on about two-thirds of the approximately 5,000 samples collected during the past deer seasons.

CWD, which affects primarily deer and elk, is caused by an abnormal protein that attacks the brains of infected animals, causing them to lose weight, display abnormal behavior and lose bodily functions.

Signs include excessive salivation, thirst and urination, loss of appetite, progressive weight loss, listlessness and drooping ears and head.

The only reliable test requires samples from lymph nodes or brain material, which can be extracted only from a dead animal.

While there is no evidence that humans can contract CWD by eating venison, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that the brain, eyeballs or spinal cord of deer not be eaten.

Hunters are also advised to wear gloves while field dressing game and boning out meat for consumption.