The dilemma of dealing with CWD

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) continues to be in the forefront of the Division of Wildlife's expert biologists' minds, and their focus is on three counties in Northwest Ohio. The malady is 100% fatal to any infected whitetail — as well as other cervids such as elk, mule deer, caribou and moose — and is difficult to manage. Part of that difficulty is in dealing with the political and social fallout that follows aggressive disease management. CWD is a neurological disease that affects the brain and central nervous system of the infected animal. It's been confirmed in 26 states, three Canadian provinces, Finland, Norway, Sweden and South Korea. CWD is caused by naturally occurring proteins, labeled prions, that become misfolded or mutated and then create holes in the brain tissue. It may take more than two years for the disease to physically manifest, but once it occurs, a lingering death follows. In that interim between infection and the appearance of symptoms, the deer will tend to do what deer do: eat, sleep, drink and herd up with other deer. During this time, the disease can be easily spread to other cervids through direct contact with saliva, urine, feces and carcass parts. Even contaminated plants and soil run a high risk of being a vector for CWD. Prions released through bodily fluids or diseased carcasses are extremely resistant to degradation and can remain infectious for years. When these exposures happen, the cycle of repetitive infection continues and the number of infected deer can rise exponentially. While it's currently unknown where the outbreak in Wyandot, Hardin and Marion counties originated, many similar infections have been located within deer farms. The first confirmed case of CWD in Ohio was found in a captive deer at a shooting preserve in Holmes County in 2014. Since then, 25 deer from three captive facilities in Holmes and Wayne counties have tested positive for CWD. The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) controls enforcement and monitoring within those confines, but anything outside the fences hangs like the sword of Damocles over the chief of Ohio's Division of Wildlife. Transmittable diseases have plagued mankind throughout history. During the initial COVID-19 outbreak, little was known about the lethality of the virus. The medical field's fear of another Spanish flu type of epidemic was palpable. Fortunately, many took precautions and vaccines were quickly formulated thanks to prior history of influenza and other coronavirus strain outbreaks. Unfortunately, science got fogged by political maneuverings, distrust, lack of understanding, and the changing metric of scientifically understanding an evolving disease. Thankfully, it now appears we are successfully dealing with the virus. Imagine if COVID-19 had the same attributes of CWD: inability to vaccinate; failure to maintain social distance from the infected; incapability of understanding what was happening; and a fatality rate of 100% with no chance of recovery or cure. Edgar Allan Poe couldn't have penned a more frightening scenario. That's what Ohio's Division of Wildlife is now facing with CWD. They're also dealing with a lot of stakeholders who are quite concerned whether the cure is worse than disease. It comes down to scientific bean counting: analytic algorithms, tracking exponential and geographic growth of the disease, population density of potentially affected animals, deer reproduction rates and detection probabilities of CWD. These things can be hard to explain, harder to understand and hardest to swallow. The deer culling that takes place and the increased hunting pressure applied seems to be an oxymoron when you're using these technics to save a population of deer. How can you kill them to save them? As a wildlife biologist, you must be concerned with population management and not individual animals. Can CWD be eradicated? The short answer: probably not. When you consider that a highly infected area may have lingering hotbeds of transmittable prions years after an animal's removal, the dilemma of dealing with it becomes clearer. Besides removing potentially infected animals, deer density must be considered when one goal is to reduce these potentially infectious sites. The current battleground for this virus is located in Wyandot and portions of Hardin and Marion counties. This area carries the distinction of being the worst outbreak in the state. The number of deer identified as being infected is eight, which seems small when compared to the approximately 1,000 tested. As we saw with the omicron variant of COVID-19, CWD does have the potential to spread quickly. Unlike omicron, CWD infections leave no survivors. So, what is the endgame of dealing with CWD? We're back to bean counting. There will need to be continued sampling and testing of the localized deer herd in the infected area. The population density must be controlled to decrease the possibility of diseased deer interaction and to deter the area's population from expanding their range into currently unexposed regions. Any infected deer must be removed, and anyone dealing with a harvested or road-hit deer must follow disposal precautions carefully. Captive cervids within the area should be inspected by ODA regularly and suspected animals tested. While eradication of the disease is likely impossible, restricting its ability to spread out of the infected zones is of paramount importance in maintaining the health of Ohio's statewide deer population. While remembering that it can take more than two years for a clinically infected deer to show signs of the disease, there's no link to the consumption of venison from nonsymptomatic deer. This means hunters can still choose to fill the freezer and help control CWD. Testing of brain or lymphoid tissue after death is the only way to confirm CWD. Currently, all potential samples must be shipped to Colorado State University for testing. The Division of Wildlife has committed to setting up an in-state testing facility and is working to streamline the testing process to better facilitate its own disease monitoring needs. The tested infectious rate of deer in the area of Wyandot, Hardin and Marion counties appears to be around 1%, though it's likely higher. It would be great to stall it right there. Compared to Wisconsin, whose CWD rate among antlered bucks has surpassed 1 in 2, that would be a tremendous win. "That's the world out there, little green apples and infectious disease." — Don DeLillo Step outside • Correction: The Hancock County Pheasants Forever Banquet and Fundraiser is March 19 (not the 12th, which my typing fingers had previously reported). Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with dinner catered by Oler's Bar & Grill at 6:15 p.m. The event is held at the Old Mill Stream Centre, Hancock County Fairgrounds, and costs $70 per person or $100 per couple. Contact Mark Plesec at meplesec@coopertire.com for more information, or by tickets at https://pfqf.myeventscenter.com/event/Hancock-County-Pheasants-Forever-Dinner-Banquet-59149 • Today and Sunday: Maumee Valley Gun Collector's Association gun show, Wood County Fairgrounds, Bowling Green. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. • Today and Sunday: Hueston Woods State Park Maple Syrup Festival, noon to 4 p.m. Enjoy a hayride from the beach into the sugar bush, followed by a hike through the 200-acre "Big Woods," which is also designated as Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve. A pancake breakfast is available at the lodge, and maple syrup will be on sale throughout the day. • Wednesday: Ohioans interested in submitting comments about the 2022-23 proposed hunting and fishing regulations can do so through Wednesday. A complete list of proposals and space to comment is available at wildohio.gov • March 19-20: Indian Lake Development Corp.'s 35th annual Maple Syrup Festival, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. (ends at 1 p.m. Sunday). Event features sugar bush tours, demonstrations and a pancake and sausage breakfast, along with maple syrup for sale. • March 20: 75-bird trap shoot, UCOA, 6943 Township Road 243. Practice opens at 11:30 a.m., with the program at 12:30 p.m. Contact Sandy Thomas at sandthm@aol.com for details. • March 26: Seneca County Pheasants Forever Banquet and Fundraiser, Meadowbrook Ballroom, Bascom. Doors open at 5 p.m., with dinner at 7 p.m. Visit www.SenecaCountyPheasantsForever.org or call 419-934-3891 for more. • April 5: Spring Trap League begins, UCOA. This six-week team event will be held at 4:30 p.m. Contact Sandy at 419-722-2441 or Kevin at 419-722-5063 for details. Abrams is a retired wildlife officer supervisor for the state Division of Wildlife in Findlay. He can be reached at P.O. Box 413, Mount Blanchard, OH 45867-0413 or via email at jimsfieldnotes@aol.com