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Read the article below to learn more about protecting yourself from CWD.
Hunters Advised to Take
Precautions
Against Chronic Wasting Disease
The Arizona Game and Fish Department is advising hunters harvesting meat
from deer and elk in other states to take precautions.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurological disease that affects
deer and elk. It is in a group of diseases called transmissible spongiform
encephalopathies, which include bovine spongiform encephalopathy in domestic
cattle (also called “mad cow disease”) and scrapie in domestic sheep and goats.
Surveillance in Arizona has thus far shown that CWD is not present in our deer
or elk populations, but the Game and Fish Department has implemented steps to
reduce the potential for this disease so that it doesn’t establish itself in our
state.
Very little is known about how the infectious agent of CWD is transmitted
from one animal to another. Nonetheless, we are concerned that CWD might be
inadvertently brought into our state through the transport of some infected
animal tissues.
In 2002, a ban on the import of live cervids (see notice below) - hoofed
mammals like deer and elk - was implemented. Now there are some more practical
suggestions that may help prevent the spread of CWD. Precautions that should be
taken before bringing any harvested animal back into Arizona include:
Bone out the meat and package
(either commercially or privately); do not cut into the spinalcord or remove the head; do not quarter (or other
method) the carcass with any of the spinal column or head attached.
Do not bring the brain, intact
skull, or spinal cord back into Arizona.
If you wish to take the antlers
attached to the skull plate, thoroughly scrape and clean tissue from the skull
plate using a knife or brush and bleach. Thoroughly clean all utensils
afterwards with bleach.
Animal skins or capes (without
skull) do not need any further treatment.
Sawn-off antlers - with or without
velvet - do not need further treatment.
Upper canine teeth of elk
(“ivories”) do not need further treatment.
Finished, taxidermied heads do not
require further treatment.
In
addition, you may want to have your deer/elk tested for CWD if such a service is
available in the state in which you harvested the animal. There may be a fee for
such CWD examination. Contact that state’s Fish and Game Department for
information on their policies and needs.
At this point, there is no evidence that humans
or animals other than deer and elk can get CWD, however, we are asking hunters
to take the above precautions in order to protect Arizona’s deer and elk herds
from the disease.
In addition, the Department is asking for your assistance in
detecting animals that may become infected with this neurological disease in the
future. If you ever note deer or elk that are in poor condition, losing hair,
droopy ears, stumbling, or have a slow reaction to your presence, please contact
the Department at 1-800-352-0700.
Additional information about chronic wasting disease is available from:
