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Deehntr56

Discussion Starter · Nov 3, 2014 (Edited by Moderator)

preserve found to have CWD-

Ohio mulls killing 300 captive deer at ranch where buck is diagnosed with chronic wasting disease.

(Chronic wasting disease, a brain disease that is always fatal to white-trailed deer, has been discovered for the first time in Ohio in a male deer killed at a deer hunting operation in Holmes County. (Ohio Department of Natural Resources).

Associated Press By Associated Press
on November 02, 2014 at 7:41 PM, updated November 02, 2014 at 8:01 PM

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio officials have not ruled out killing an estimated 300 captive deer at a hunting preserve where a buck infected with chronic wasting disease was confirmed.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture told the Zanesville Times Recorder that no decision has been made about what to do with the deer remaining at the preserve. The spokeswoman said that killing all the deer at the ranch in Millersburg is "not off the table," and there is no set schedule for when a decision will be made, said Erica Hawkins.

Meanwhile, the discovery of the rare disease has prompted the Ohio Division of Wildlife to ask for tissue samples of wild deer around the preserve known as the World Class Whitetails of Ohio ranch in Holmes County, northeast of Columbus. As of Sunday, the disease had not been found in Ohio's wild herd, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

The disease, which hasn't been shown to infect humans, attacks the brain of the infected animal, produces lesions, and eventually kills the animal. Wildlife officials are asking for deer heads on a voluntary basis in the sampling area, which is restricted to eight townships in Holmes County surrounding the preserve.

The agriculture department, which oversees captive deer operations in the state, confirmed an infected buck at the Millersburg site last month.

Bryan Richards, the chronic wasting disease project leader at the National Wildlife Health Center, told the Times Recorder that euthanizing the deer from a diseased herd has been the management tool employed at the majority of facilities across the United States and Canada to reduce the risk to free-ranging deer outside the facility

Curt Waldvogel, president of Whitetail Deer Farmers of Ohio, said it is too early to know the best response to the disease found at the Ohio ranch. The industry tries to work with the farmer and the state to develop the best solution, he said.

A message left Sunday at the ranch in Millersburg seeking comment was not immediately returned.

At least 19 states have found the disease in their wild deer populations. Ohio was the 14th state to identify the disease in its captive population.

Ohio mulls killing 300 captive deer at ranch where buck is diagnosed with chronic wasting disease | cleveland.com

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