CWD Lives in Soil, No CWD in Pennsylvania, and Disease Threat is Real [News]

Research Shows CWD Lives on in Soil
www.chippewa.com
16 April 2006
David Wahlberg [Wisconsin State Journal]

MADISON n Malformed proteins that cause chronic wasting disease in deer can adhere to minerals in soil and remain deadly, a new UW-Madison study says.

The finding about prions provides more evidence suggesting that deer can spread the disease through the environment, not only through direct contact, researchers say. While such indirect transmission has long been suspected, the study is the first to confirm that prions can tightly bind to soil and form a reservoir for infection.

State officials say the study bolsters Wisconsin’s strategy of tackling the illness primarily by trying to thin the deer herd — especially in the Mount Horeb area, where it first appeared.

“This fills in another piece of the puzzle,” said Tom Hauge, director of wildlife management for the state Department of Natural Resources. “It is important to take actions that minimize contamination of the soil.“

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Still no Signs in State of Chronic Wasting Disease
The Times-Tribune
17 April 2006

During the last four years, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has tested more than 10,000 hunter-killed deer for chronic wasting disease (CWD). So far, all testes have been negative.

During the two-week rifle season last December, Game Commission teams collected 3,834 heads from deer processors. Game Commission personnel and Pennsylvania and U.S. departments of agriculture animal health officials then collected tissues for sampling. Testing was done at the New Bolton Center, which is the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary diagnostics laboratory. The cost for conducting the tests was covered by a $90,000 federal grant from the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

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Experts: Disease Threat is Real
The News-Gazette.com
15 April 2006
Greg Kline

Mosquitos that spread West Nile virus in the U.S. flew here to get the job done – and they might have flown first class.

Scientists have determined that West Nile probably entered New York from Israel by way of a mosquito and Kennedy Airport. The first human case of the virus reported in Los Angeles was a baggage handler, researcher Paul Gibbs said at the University of Illinois on Friday.

The impact of fluid and fast trade- and tourism-related travel is one factor that makes Gibbs and other experts gathered at the UI think we're seeing an increase in emerging, and re-emerging, infectious diseases like West Nile, SARS, bird flu, mad cow disease, whooping cough and mumps, among others.

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