LEON — Deer hunters who hunt in Decatur County take note– chronic wastingdisease has shown up in your area. A hunter harvested wild deer taken duringthe first shotgun season in Decatur County has tested positive for chronicwasting disease.
The Iowa Department ofNatural Resources (DNR) has scheduled a meeting on March 10, at 7 p.m., inthe Central Decatur CSD, 1201 NE Poplar, inLeon, to discuss the status of chronic wasting disease in Iowa and howdeer hunters can help stop or slow thespread of this disease.
Tyler Harms,wildlife biologist for the Iowa DNR, will coordinate the meeting. He said thereare several things hunters can do today to help monitor for the disease.
“Thefirst and most important is to allow sampling of hunter harvested deer,” hesaid. “Second, is to remove any mineral blocks and feeders that unnaturallyconcentrates deer and increases the chance of spreading any disease and finallyreport any sick or emaciated deer to the DNR.
“Wewant people to come to this meeting, ask their questions, hear the concernsfrom other hunters,” Harms said. “Deer hunting is an important tradition and,for some, a large part of their identity. It is also important to us and weneed to work together to combat this disease. Our goal is to provide qualitydeer hunting today, tomorrow, and for future generations.”
The Iowa DNR has testednearly 74,000 deer tissue samples for chronic wasting disease since monitoringbegan in 2002. The disease first appeared in Iowa’s wild deer herd in 2013. Sofar, there have been 89 positive tests.
The Iowa DNR sets an annualgoal of collecting 6,900 deer tissue samples. The effort has focused onportions of northeast and eastern Iowa near Wisconsin, Illinois, andsouth-central Iowa near Missouri, where the disease has been detected.Additional testing has been conducted in Pottawattamie, Cerro Gordo and Daviscounties, following positive tests from captive facilities. All counties haveat least 15 samples collected annually. The disease has been found inevery state around Iowa.
Chronic wasting disease is aneurological disease belonging to the family of diseases known as transmissiblespongiform encephalopathies, or prion diseases. It attacks thebrain of infected deer and elk causing the animals to lose weight, displayabnormal behavior, lose body functions and die. It is always fatal to theinfected animal.
“Deer hunting is one ofIowa’s great traditions. We want to educate and work with our hunters so wecontinue to have the best deer herd in the country for generations to come,” hesaid.