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February 28, 2007
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE NOT DETECTED IN OHIO DEER
Testing conducted during last year’s deer-gun season
 COLUMBUS, OH - For the fifth
year, testing of Ohio’s deer herd has found no evidence of chronic wasting
disease (CWD), a degenerative brain disease that affects elk, mule deer
and white-tailed deer, according to the Ohio Department of Natural
Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.
State officials collected
1,097 samples last year from hunter-harvested deer, primarily during the
deer-gun season that ran November 27-December 3. Tests were performed at
the Animal Disease Diagnostics Laboratory of the Ohio Department of
Agriculture.
Since 2002, the Division of Wildlife has been
conducting surveillance throughout the state for CWD, as well as epizootic
hemorrhagic disease and bovine tuberculosis. While CWD has never been
found in Ohio’s deer herd, it had been diagnosed in both wild and/or
captive deer or elk in 14 other states and two Canadian
provinces.
Since CWD was discovered in the Western United States in
the late 1960s, there has been no evidence that the disease can be
transmitted to humans.
The Division of Wildlife continues to
carefully monitor the health of Ohio’s deer herd throughout the year. For
the latest information on CWD, visit the Ohio
Division of Wildlife, the Ohio Department of
Agriculture, or the Chronic
Wasting Disease Alliance websites.
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