Chronic wasting disease confirmed in Pennsylvania deer

Always fatal to deer and similar species, the disease was confirmed at an Adams County deer farm, officials said; it has not been found in the wild deer population and is not a risk to humans.

A long-feared disease that kills white-tailed deer, elk and similar species has turned up in Pennsylvania, state officials say.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture today confirmed the first positive case of chronic wasting disease in the state on a deer farm in Adams County.
 
The disease is fatal in deer, elk and moose, but there is no evidence that the disease can be transmitted to humans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary George Greig and other officials plan to discuss the diagnosis at a news conference at 1 this afternoon in the Capitol Media Center in Harrisburg.

The positive sample was taken from a white-tailed deer at 1491 New Chester Road, New Oxford, and tested as part of Pennsylvania’s intensive chronic wasting disease monitoring efforts. The sample tissue was tested at the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory in Harrisburg and verified at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.

In addition to the Adams County location, the department has quarantined two farms directly associated with the positive deer at 6464 Jacks Hollow Road, Williamsport, Lycoming County, and 61 Pickett Road, Dover, York County. The quarantine prevents movement of animals on and off the premises.

Pennsylvania wildlife officials in the summer of 2011 went on the offensive against the devastating disease after it was confirmed 10 miles from Maryland's border with south-central Pennsylvania. The state Board of Game Commissioners at that time gave preliminary approval to new emergency powers aimed at limiting the risk of the spread of chronic wasting disease.

Officials in Pennsylvania and New Jersey had tested for chronic wasting disease, or CWD, for more than a decade and, until today in Pennsylvania, had yet to confirm it in wild or captive herds.

“To date CWD has not been found in Pennsylvania’s wild deer population,” Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe said in a statement. ”Concerns over CWD should not prevent anyone from enjoying deer hunting and consuming meat from healthy animals.”