Results from preliminary tests of a wild elk and 43 deer taken by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks researchers from the vicinity of game farms near Philipsburg and Hardin show none of the animals were infected with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) or tuberculosis, two diseases of growing concern to wildlife officials across the West. "Once again, we are relieved that these disease investigations show no CWD or TB in Montana’s wild elk and deer," said Don Childress, administrator of FWP’s wildlife division in Helena. "It is our intention to continue this work in the fall." CWD is a brain and nervous system illness that causes weight loss and other symptoms, which result in death in elk and deer. The origin and the mode of transmission of CWD are unknown. TB is a highly contagious respiratory ailment that is often fatal to deer and elk and could pose a threat to domestic livestock. While CWD does not appear to be present in Montana’s wild deer and elk populations, in June 1998 and again in June 1999 the Montana Department of Livestock notified FWP that elk shipped from the Kesler Game Farm near Philipsburg to Oklahoma were confirmed to have CWD. Subsequently, an elk that died in October 1999 at the Kesler facility was diagnosed with CWD. In November and December 1999, 83 Kesler Game Farm elk were destroyed. Three of the destroyed elk later tested positive for CWD. TB was initially detected in elk at the Kesler Game Farm in 1991 and later at the Elk Valley Game Ranch near Hardin in 1994. The Elk Valley Game Ranch shares a common fence with the Sunlight Game Ranch. CWD has never been detected in elk or deer from either the Elk Valley or Sunlight game ranches, but the Elk Valley Game Ranch is currently under quarantine because it possesses four elk obtained from the Kesler Game Farm. Because CWD cannot be detected in living animals, brain-tissue samples were collected from the heads of nine wild deer and one wild elk taken by wildlife officials near the Kesler Game Farm. A total of 34 wild mule deer also were collected from within the fenced pastures of the Sunlight Game Ranch. The samples, which were all negative for CWD, were tested using the most current diagnostic procedures by researchers at Washington State University. Diagnostic test results were independently reviewed by pathologists at the Schools of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State and Colorado State universities. Tissue samples from the lungs of those same animals were also examined for TB by a veterinary pathologist at the Montana Department of Livestock Diagnostic Laboratory in Bozeman. None of the samples examined exhibited microscopic lung lesions suggestive of bovine TB. In FWP’s on-going random sampling for CWD and other diseases at the state’s hunter check stations, tissues were collected from 578 hunter-harvested elk and deer last fall. The samples have been examined by researchers at Washington State University and are now undergoing a second review by CWD pathologists from Colorado State University. Results are expected this spring. Results from tests of 440 wild elk and deer taken in 1998 by Montana hunters and wildlife biologists showed none of the animals were infected with CWD. In November 1998, FWP and the Montana Department of Livestock agreed to carry out a plan to determine if CWD is present in Montana. Measures include testing of wild elk and deer as well as game farm animals. The Department of Livestock also adopted rules to test and regulate the importation of game farm animals to reduce the risk of introducing CWD into Montana. Under the 1998 agreement, FWP will again be working at selected hunter game-check stations statewide this fall to collect brain-tissue samples from hunter-harvested deer and elk. "We will likely cut back the intensity of our hunting-season sample collection, but increase our targeted surveillance, especially around the Philipsburg and Hardin areas," said Keith Aune, FWP’s wildlife laboratory supervisor. Aune said that FWP biologists and wardens continue to conduct the targeted surveillance of elk and deer that appear to display clinical symptoms suggestive of CWD -- emaciated animals that appear listless, with blank facial expressions, excessive salivation, lowered heads and, in some cases, hyperexcitability and nervousness. Test results from nine "targeted" animals collected so far were negative for CWD. Old age, other diseases and chronic malnutrition can result in symptoms similar to CWD. Aune encouraged hunters, hikers and others to contact the nearest FWP office if they see animals with any of these symptoms.
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