Background

Discovery

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was first recognized by biologists in the late 1960s as a digestive tract illness of captive deer held in wildlife research facilities in Fort Collins, Colorado. It was not until 1977, however, that CWD was classified as being part of a family of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), which also includes mad cow disease, scrapie in sheep, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. CWD was subsequently recognized in captive deer, and later in captive elk, from wildlife research facilities near Fort Collins, Kremmling, and Meeker, Colorado and Wheatland, Wyoming. Although CWD was first diagnosed in captive research cervids, the original source (or sources) of the disease is unknown; equally uncertain is whether CWD in research animals really preceded CWD in the wild, or vice versa.

CWD cases have now been reported, outside the endemic area, in Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin and, most recently, Colorado’s Western Slope. Commercial elk transported across state lines are the likely cause for the spread of the disease across the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River.

State Actions

Wyoming and Montana have banned new elk ranches, partly out of concern over CWD. Elsewhere, federal and state agriculture officials have taken drastic measures when CWD appears on an elk ranch; entire herds have been slaughtered even though only a few of the animals prove to be carrying the disease.

By June 2002, in Colorado, agriculture officials had put down 3,076 captive elk. About 1,300 of those were from ranches inside the state’s notorious endemic area. In Idaho and Wisconsin, strict regulations have been established to monitor and track all farmed deer and elk. Some states are also examining the possibility of banning deer baiting and feeding as a preventative measure.

Federal Actions

At present, there are several proposals at the federal level looking for ways to establish a Chronic Wasting Disease management plan. On May 15, 2002, Representatives of Colorado and Wisconsin introduced HR 4740, which would require the Secretary of the Interior to establish a national research program to address CWD. Even more recently, in a bipartisan effort, Wisconsin Senators and Representatives united with House Forests Subcommittee Chairman Scott McInnis to introduce “The Chronic Wasting Disease Support for States Act,” which would:

• Authorize direct federal grants to states fighting CWD;
• Task the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of the Interior with coordinating and supporting state efforts to determine where, and how quickly, CWD has spread in wild and captive cervid herds;
• Commission a federal research effort to determine the cause of the disease;
• Create a national CWD database for use by federal, state, and university researchers and wildlife managers;
• Upgrade America’s laboratory capacity to meet expected increases in CWD testing needs; and
• Authorize a total of $27 million in new funding to fight CWD.