CWD the FACTS

[Bukmastr]

Here is what Wyoming DNR officials had to say about Wisconsin officials scare tactics about CWD spreading to humans:

There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that hunters and others who consume venison containing the proteins that cause the deadly brain ailment chronic wasting disease will get the disease, according to Wyoming Game and Fish Department scientists.

Wyoming officials said the risk of death to humans who eat such meat appear nonexistent.

"Nobody has ever died from CWD and people have been eating (deer meat that could contain prions) for 25 years," said Terry Kreeger, Supervisor of the Game and Fish Department's Veterinary Research Services.

Here is why we cannot "eradicate" CWD from Wisconsin according to UW Scientists:

scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggest that certain soil types serve as natural prion repositories in the wild. As animals regularly consume soil to meet their
mineral needs, it's possible that prion-laden soil particles contribute to the
transmission of prion disease such as CWD among animals.

"Prions most likely enter soil via excretion or from the carcasses of infected
animals,"

"We also wanted to determine how difficult it is to remove prions from clay,"
says senior author Joel Pedersen, a UW-Madison assistant professor of soil
science. "It turned out to be extremely difficult."

In fact, prions could be released from clay only when the scientists boiled the
clay-bound proteins in a detergent solution.

State Representative Garey Bies regarding where CWD came from in Wisconsin.:

Also regarding Chronic Wasting Disease, I was quite shocked to learn that the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in 1988 inoculated live animals with CWD. One type of animal that was inoculated was mule deer. And I find it more than a little suspicious that a mule deer, shot by a hunter in the Mt. Horeb area during that time, was immediately confiscated by the Department of Natural Resources. Why were the Department and the University not forthcoming with this bit of information? Could these mule deer, infected with CWD by the University be the source of the disease in our native whitetail population? I requested the Committee to inquire with the University as to the nature of the CWD experiments and what happened to all of the animals infected.

Statement by Dan Infalt on Rabies VS CWD

30 years of testing to see if they could infect other animals with CWD has resulted in NO test animals getting the disease other than other deer. I would rather eat raw venison off of an infected deer, than handle a rabid Bat. Why not put a big circle on the freakin map and kill all of the bats?? Probably becuase the govener is not getting a kick back from auto insureance companies to reduce the number of Bat / car accidents. Yes freinds... Rabie's is far more dangerous than CWD, and nobody is doing anything to stop it.

Quotes from MATT VERDON DNR CWD Cordinator, in an email response to Dan Infalt:

Simply put, with the size of the infected area and the factors involved, deer eradication is unrealistic as a means to control the disease.

There has been research done that shows the disease can be obtained from the environment

the highest we have seen is 10-12% of the adult population infected.

Matt
Q Matthew Verdon
Chronic Wasting Disease Data Coordinator
Bureau of Wildlife Management
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Dan Infalt on safety issues since CWD regulations went into effect:

I assume the two guys who almost shot me in the last two years probably took a hunter safety coarse. I had one guy draw a bow on me in pitch black darkness as I was heading out of the marsh after tracking a friends wounded deer. I heard the arrow slide back and quickly lit the guy up with my flash light, he was at full draw. He started screaming at me, something about how I am going to get myself shot by walking around at night without a flashlight... Yep, the DNR is right, this guy should have a rifle in his hands and several tags to shoot any deer... After all, he had a hunters Safety coarse right? How about the time I walked out of the marsh and had a bowhunter at full draw aiming at the trail waiting for me to walk out? He just let down his draw and staired at me... Both guys I just walked away, it aint worth it to argue with idiots. Would you take your kid out in the cattail marsh where there are guys jump shooting deer but can't see through the cattails at whats beyond? It is the DNR's responsability to keep hunting safe! I agree, that individules should be held responsible for not following every safety rule. But allowing people to shoot at any deer they see, and encouraging it, is going to cause people to get shot. It could be your son or my kid that gets it. Opening rifles in these same areas is insane. They closed rifles becuase it was too dangerous, now that we can shoot any thing we see it suddenly becomes safe????

Quality Deer Management Association on CWD management
Uplands Branch (QDMA)

The QDMA acknowledges that total herd eradication may appear to be the most effective method to contain and control CWD.

At this time, however, the QDMA considers total herd eradication impossible under most circumstances, unacceptable to many segments of society, and impractical as a long-term CWD management strategy.

Aldo Leopold, on wildlife Eradication way back in 1944:

. . This episode shows that a scientific bureau, confronted with a question of wildlife eradication, may prefer to lose the wildlife than to lose time in scientific research for alternatives. In one sense this is water over the dam, but in another it carries a lesson for the future. At best, the scientific base in this case was sketchy, and no imagination had been used in searching for less destructive alternatives."
"It is time for us to learn caution and restraint in our power to eradicate wild things." --Aldo Leopold, December 5th, 1944

Attorney David Mandell
A Safe & Sane Alternative to the
Wisconsin DNR Deer Slaughter

The DNR’s rush to kill 100% of the deer population in a 361 square mile area in Southwestern Wisconsin
- as soon as possible - is meeting strong resistance from many hunters and landowners. As outlined here,
CAIDS-Wisconsin and these two groups support a more reasoned, balanced approach to successfully
addressing and containing Chronic Wasting Disease in Wisconsin.
Hunter-sportsmen oppose the kill because it is neither for food nor sport. Ninety-eight percent (98%) of
the deer to be killed and incinerated or dumped in the landfill will be healthy animals. The traditions that
mark the sport of deer hunting are being cast aside. What the DNR has proposed is an all-out “War” against the deer, not a sporting deer hunt.
Area landowners opposed granting the DNR the power to abuse private property rights and view the
plan as a threat to the right to live safely and securely in their communities. Conducting a war-like assault
to search and kill all deer will produce “collateral damage” and materially upset the ecological balance of
the area. The DNR rush to judgement – without adequate research, testing and preparation – simply
adds further insecurity and anxiety that accidents and harm are a certainty.

Dr. James Kroll

“My strong opinion is that CWD and other diseases never will be eradicated from wild deer herds. They just become a factor to consider in management.”
Professor James C. Kroll, Founder & Director, Institute for White-tailed Deer Managament & Research

Colorado DNR Scientist speaks about CWD culling

The agency's lead scientist on CWD and an early proponent of culling, Mike Miller, said data collected over the years don't show that thinning herds has had any significant effect on the rate of the disease in the wild.

Colorado Officials comment on there 30+ years of CWD

CWD has never taken down vast numbers of deer as once feared. In fact, in the most infected pockets of the state, the rate of disease among deer is about 10 percent, not much different than it's been for several years.

Professor Charles Southwick comments on culling CWD deer.

One prominent critic of the culling approach has been retired University of Colorado biology professor Charles Southwick, who has argued that culling might actually exacerbate the spread of CWD.

That's based on his view that clearing deer out of a "hot spot" just opens the door for more deer to come in and contract the disease from the environment, where research suggests the agents behind the disease can subsist in soil and feces.

In addition, Southwick has argued, it might be that most deer and elk have a natural resistance to CWD. By killing off mostly healthy populations, the division might be reducing the creatures that have that resistance, under his view.

[Bukmastr]

Got this from the Maine DNR:

DEER URINE ALERT
CWD prions can be shed in the urine of infected deer. Commercial deer lures are commonly formulated from urine collected from captive deer. If that captive herd becomes infected with CWD, this disease could conceivably be spread to wild deer when hunters apply deer lures to vegetation or the ground.

Since commercial deer lures are not currently tested for CWD prions, deer hunters everywhere should take the following precautions.

Do not place urine-based deer lures on your boots or clothing where they can contact the ground.
Do not place urine-based deer lures directly on the ground or on vegetation within reach of deer.
A safer alternative is to place the lure on a cotton ball and hang it out of reach where air currents can circulate the odor to deer.

[Bukmastr]

Possible vaccine for CWD

Prion-disease vaccine shown to be effective in mice
Method could fight chronic wasting disease in deer
By JOHN FAUBER
jfauber@journalsentinel.com
Posted: May 3, 2007
An experimental oral vaccine designed to prevent prion disease warded off symptoms in mice, raising the prospect that a similar approach someday could be used to stop the spread of chronic wasting disease in wild deer.

Prion Disease
Recent Coverage
1/30/07: Cause of prion diseases could be viral

Special Section


For complete archived coverage of chronic wasting disease in Wisconsin, go to our SPECIAL SECTION

Advertisement

Buy a link hereAlready the same researchers are working on a deer and elk version of the vaccine, which uses a weakened, genetically engineered strain of salmonella.

In theory, if the deer vaccine were found to work, it could be put into feed and spread in areas where chronic wasting disease is endemic, such as in two pockets of Wisconsin: west of Madison mainly in Dane, Iowa and Sauk counties; and east of Janesville, primarily in southern Rock and Walworth counties.

"It was pretty impressive, the degree of protection they got," said G. Richard Olds, an infectious-disease expert and professor and chairman of the department of medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Such a vaccine also could be used in cattle in the event that mad cow disease became widespread, said Olds, who was not part of the study.

"Obviously, the much more immediate market is in deer and elk because the approaches we are taking aren't working," he said.

The study involved about 100 mice that were inoculated with a vaccine using a salmonella strain that had been engineered to express, or produce, mouse prion protein, which normally is present in the brains of the animals. The normal prion protein is virtually identical to the rogue prion that is believed to cause the family of fatal brain disorders known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathy diseases, such as mad cow disease, chronic wasting disease, sheep scrapie and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.

The mice were then infected orally with a form of scrapie that had been manipulated to be infectious in mice.

After the mice were vaccinated, researchers checked if they had high or low levels of antibodies to the vaccine.

Those that had high levels of antibodies, about 20% of the mice, remained symptom-free after 400 days.

When the brains of those mice were examined, no evidence of prion disease was found, said lead researcher Thomas Wisniewski, a professor of neurology, pathology and psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine.

"So they had protection," Wisniewski said.

Activating immune system
Essentially, the vaccine had activated the immune systems of the mice to recognize the scrapie prion as an invader and attack it.

All the other mice, those with low levels of antibodies to the vaccine, developed symptoms and died within 160 days, although they showed a delay in symptoms of about 40 days.

By boosting the strength of the vaccine or revaccinating the mice, higher levels of antibodies could be achieved, Wisniewski said.

He said that for the vaccine to work against chronic wasting disease in deer, a different strain of salmonella would have to be used. And that strain would have to be genetically engineered to express normal deer prion protein.

He said he now is testing a similar vaccine in mice that have been genetically engineered to express deer prion protein in their brains.

Although such a vaccine might not be 100% effective in protecting deer from chronic wasting disease, it could provide a high level of resistance, he said.

"It would interrupt the vicious cycle of infection," he said.

"It would be an easy thing to do. You could just spread it on deer and elk feed in pellets they might like to eat."

The research was presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Boston.

Promising results
The research looks promising, said Suzette Priola, a senior scientist with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

However, she said the researchers should have waited longer to look for symptoms and to check the brains of the mice for signs of prion disease. She said mice such as those used in the experiment can live 500 to 600 days in optimal conditions.

Still, it appeared that the vaccine provided some level of protection, she said.

"At the very least, you are slowing things down significantly," said Priola, who was not involved in the study.

She said putting such a vaccine in feed to protect deer in the endemic areas of chronic wasting disease might work, but "it would be a mammoth undertaking."

And before that can be done, the vaccine would have to prove effective in mice that express deer prion protein in their brains and then in captive deer, she said.

The National Institutes of Health funded the study.

[Bukmastr]

Insects could be spreading CWD...

Author R.A. Forrest
The CWD Foundation Library

"Despite over 20 years of research, the origins and mode of CWD transmission are still unknown . . . . Given that to date, after tens of millions of research dollars, no one has yet defined the causal agent of TSE disease, the probability of Spiroplasma being the long sought after causative agent appears quite credible. If one can reasonably accept Spiroplasma as the probable causal agent of TSE disease then, perhaps, the role of insects in transmission is much more certain. If insect transmission is plausible, then selective deductions can be derived from the cacophony of disease information available. "

"The psoroptic mite, as well as various varies of ticks make use of their unwitting host by consuming lymph or blood. In particular, the lymph-sucking nature of Psoroptes makes it an ideal vector for the inter-animal spread of potential lymph-borne disease." "Forrest (2002) suspects that Spiroplasma bacteria, using the white blood cell rich lymph, have an innate ability to confound the host's immune system and thence gain access to the central nervous system creating TSE disease."

Hmmm maybe the insects explain how CWD keeps popping up in new places???

The infected mule deer was found inside the security perimeter of the White Sands Missle Base near the US-Mexico border - hundreds of miles from nearest confirmed CWD case and far from any game farm. Kerry Mower, a wildlife disease specialist with the state's Game and Fish Department, said the New Mexico case could shake the world's current understanding of CWD. "This is a complete surprise," he said. "It just doesn't fit the profile.

[Bukmastr]

Finally some proof of insects spreading TSE's

CONFIDENTIAL
SEAC 97/2
Annex 2
UNITED KINGDOM ACCREDITATION SERVICE (UKAS)
ASSESSMENT REPORT


Other organisms

Transmission of TSEs through ectoparasites has been postulated by Lupi5.
Post et al6
fed larvae of meat eating and myiasis causing flies with brain material from
scrapieinfected
hamsters. Two days after eating infected material, the larvae showed high
amounts of PrPSc by Western blot. In further studies, the inner organs of
larvae, which
had been fed with scrapie brain, were extracted and fed to hamsters. Six out
of eight
hamsters developed scrapie. Two out of four hamsters fed on scrapie infected
pupae
subsequently developed scrapie.

[Bukmastr]

As the sun sets on the 2006 season, its hard for me not to reflect back to when this whole CWD mess started. I remember how all my out of state relation and friends flocked here to hunt in the marshes near my home. I remember shining huge bucks every night. Sometimes seeing as many as a dozen Boone & Crockett bucks in one night of shining & glassing the public lands around my home. I would pass buck after buck, waiting for that one special animal, one that I had seen all summer. I would just take a couple does for meat if the right buck never showed. It was not always that good. But it just kept getting better over the years, and those last few years before CWD were the best ever.
I remember the Wisconsin DNR announcing a plan to eradicate CWD. They said it had to be stopped. They showed us maps and explained that if we did not kill every deer within the area, CWD would rapidly expand and take the State over within 5 years. They said it may kill people if not contained. They said, If we don't stop this disease, non-residents will stop traveling here to hunt deer, residents will quit hunting for fear of diseased animals, the economy would crumble.
There were many of us who questioned this logic, after all CWD had been in Colorado for 30 years, and no one had ever gotten sick, the whole state did not get rapidly infected, and people still flocked there to enjoy hunting.
I started studying CWD and learned quickly that CWD cannot be eradicated in any way. Once its here, there is no way to remove it. It gets into the environment and remains there forever. I also learned that some animals that have survived in CWD areas have shown some sort of built up resistance to the disease, which also made me question the total eradication plan. I was not alone, many people were questioning the Wisconsin DNR's plan, including some leading wildlife professionals.
The DNR would not listen, lead by there chief Governor Jim Doyle, they marched forward with there war on whitetails. They killed 1000's of animals including fawns. They provided dumpsters to toss your unwanted catch into after the days hunt, a practice that was illegal before CWD. They refused listen to anybody who would disagree with them. And Doyle restructured the Managerial DNR positions with people who have no background with wildlife management (All had helped with his campaign funding before his election though) to replace the veterans who were in those positions.
Now, as I reflect back over the last 6 seasons, I see how the DNR was right about one of there claims. My out of state relation and friends no longer want to travel here to hunt, but it seems more cause of the lack of quality deer than fear of disease. Hunting residents have been quitting there hunting here due to the low numbers and poor quality just as they predicted too. But its the DNR's liberal limits, or actually no limits, that is ruining these peoples hunting, not CWD. Now, when I shine, I am lucky to see two dozen deer of any size in an entire night.
They did not control the disease or kill the number of deer they claimed they needed to to stop the spread, yet the mapped out destructive future they predicted never happened, just like in Colorado. No body died or even got the sniffles from eating CWD infected meat.
The DNR reminds me of a stubborn person that you can show the facts, but they just refuse to listen. How long will this War on Whitetails have to continue before they realize the damage they have done and are still doing to our great state.

[Bukmastr]

I have been doing some background checking on some of these DNR bozo's who are ruining our deer hunting. As I have stated since this all began, I believe that Governor Doyle is behind Wisconsins "WAR ON WHITETAILS". I sure hope no sportsmen or sportswomen in Wisconsin are responsble for voting that Bozo back in :evil: Seems from what I have heard from DNR staff is you do not want to be caught talking in opistion of the CWD war if you want to keep you DNR job.
Enough of my rambling :lol: Here is the point, all the guys leading the WAR ON WHITETAILS are new appointees from Adolf Doyle, without a DNR background needed for these positions...

About the Secretary of Natural Resources
Gov. Jim Doyle appointed Madison attorney and outdoor enthusiast P. Scott Hassett as DNR secretary in January 2003.

P. Scott Hassett

P. Scott Hassett, Secretary Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Scott Hassett came to the DNR from a 22-year career practicing law in the private sector, primarily working on employment, criminal and environmental litigation cases.

Here is a photo of one of the Governors appointed warriors who is helping to kill Wisconsins great heritage of whitetail hunting:


A friend of mine who has been suppling me "inside info" :wink: Sent me some lenthy letters that portray some fustrations with the way Hassett has been treating the rest of the staff. Here are some quotes:

Within 90 days, I will announce a system whereby any citizen can contact my office to complain about a DNR employee’s behavior or attitude. Before the announcement, I will communicate clearly and firmly to employees about the business-like behavior that will be the norm. This new norm will help define the culture. There will be negative consequences for employees who don’t get it; there will benefits for employees who exemplify the new culture.

My employees will be accountable, but I have to say that I will also call out those who tell the unsubstantiated stories about the bad DNR. If I'm to hold my staff to a higher standard others need to know that I am no longer listening to the anecdotal stories without asking the tough questions. If you're making it up I'm going to find out.

To make it happen, DNR employees will walk in someone else’s shoes. If there are workers that fear for their jobs, their families and their future, DNR workers must feel that fear.

As you know, I’m an outsider in DNR. I did not come up through the ranks. I have a fresh pair of eyes. I try to ask probing questions and listen carefully. That comes from my training as a journalist and attorney. I also am a results-oriented person, and I have a mandate from the Governor to lead change in the DNR.

I have heard again and again that DNR is insulated from the world that others live in. As a result, I have heard that our personal contacts appear heartless and our decisions disconnected from real needs. That perception must change. If the perception is true, the reality must change as well.

Like any organization, we have to work to maintain good relations with the public, even when we're tired, frustrated or overworked. A few uncooperative staff or isolated sour incidents can kidnap our reputation. We are under a microscope. We need to help each other.

Is it just me? Or does this Dude sound a little threatening to unsupportive DNR staff? I read in the letters that these reports and letters came out 3 months after Adolf Doyle appointed him Secratary. [/b]

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Doyle at it again. I'll just post the whole article. This is out of the latest wisconsin outdoor news.

Smith ouster is called ‘political’

Tuesday, January 9, 2007 4:44 PM EST
By Dean Bortz Editor

Madison — Several Wisconsin conservation veterans believe DNR leadership abilities took a step backward last month when DNR Deputy Secretary Bill Smith was removed as the agency’s second in command.

He is going to be replaced by the current DNR executive assistant Mary Schlaefer. She will be replaced by Randy Romanski, who is Gov. Jim Doyle’s deputy chief of staff and former executive assistant at the Department of Transportation.

Several conservation leaders did not want to be identified, but agreed that Smith’s experience and knowledge on resource issues and management will be sorely missed. They called Smith’s removal a bad move.

Former DNR secretary and current Wisconsin Wildlife Federation executive director George Meyer didn’t hide his displeasure with the decision.

“Not only is his loss of great concern, but now we have the three top people in the agency and the great majority of division administrators with four or less years of experience in the agency,” Meyer said. “While they are all fine people, this is a great loss to conservation in Wisconsin and illustrates in spades why we need to return to an agency managed by a designee of the Natural Resources Board and true professional natural resource management in this state.”

Retired Natural Resources Board member Herb Behnke, of Shawano, said DNR Secretary Scott Hassett and Doyle made a mistake in removing Smith.

“There’s no one there now who has any experience in resource management. People like Bill Smith, who have been in the field and know what’s going on, should rise to the top and be the decision makers, but that’s not happening now,” Behnke said.

“We’re not in good shape at all now, as far as resource management goes,” he said. “Bill understood the workings of the DNR, he earned the right to be there. He did a good job there in the last four years, managing the day-to-day operations of the DNR.

“Mary is a fine person, I know her. She’s a great lawyer, but she does not have any resource management background at all, Behnke said.

Lee Kernen, of Montello, is the DNR’s former fisheries chief and now a columnist for Wisconsin Outdoor News. Kernen worked with Smith when Smith was the Northwest Region director.

“Bill is a great guy and a good guy to work for. He’s the person who held the DNR together until Scott Hassett got his feet on the ground,” Kernen said.

One of the conservation leaders who wished to remain unnamed said Smith’s departure is a “huge loss.”

“It is obviously a political move. These people have no resource background - it was good to know that the second in command (Smith) had a good resource background,” one source said.

Another source added: “We have to be concerned about this. The question is, is DNR going to be a resource agency led by professional resource people? Their decisions affect everything we do, and some of these issues are incredibly complex. Who is going to be making those decisions? They may do a good job but, but should we not have some institutional history at the top?”
Behnke said Smith’s removal now brings Wisconsin conservation efforts full circle in the past 80 years.

“Eighty years ago, Aldo Leopold, Bill Aberg, and Haskell Noyes got the Legislature to separate politics from conservation decisions, but now we’re back to where politicians are making the decisions instead of career employees, and that’s not a good situation,” he said.

Doyle announced the changes in a press release late on Friday, Dec. 29, just before the long New Year’s weekend. Meyer pointed out that those types of news releases often are used by politicians who know their decisions are going to be unpopular with the public. In today’s electronic news world, that Friday announcement is long forgotten by Tuesday morning, and news outlets go on to newer, fresher stories.

“Ever wonder why these decisions are revealed the Friday before a holiday?” Meyer asked.

The news release points out that Romanski grew up fishing on the Wisconsin River, but critics of the move wonder how that translates into Romanski being able to make major natural resources management decisions.
Romanski has a master’s degree in public policy and administration from UW-Madison and worked as chief of staff for Sen. Alice Clausing. From June of 2005 through December he served as Doyle’s deputy chief of staff.

Schlaefer has no background in natural resources, but she knew Doyle when she worked in the attorney general’s office.

Smith’s future role within the DNR was not announced, but he will turn 57 this fall, making him eligible to retire from the agency.

Hassett did not return an e-mail from Wisconsin Outdoor News before press time for this issue.

“This is a real true loss to the agency and to sportsmen and women. This lack of experience at the top (of the DNR) is a true conservation travesty,” Meyer said.

[Bukmastr]

CWD IN OUR SOIL FOREVER!!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
4/14/06

CONTACT: Joel Pedersen, (608) 263-4971, joelpedersen@wisc.edu; Debbie McKenzie,
(608) 262-2317, mckenzie@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu

SOIL-BOUND PRIONS REMAIN INFECTIOUS

MADISON - Scientists have confirmed that prions, the mysterious proteins thought
to cause chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer, latch on tightly to certain
minerals in soil and remain infectious.

The discovery that prions stay deadly despite sticking to soil comes as a
surprise, because while many proteins can bind to soil, that binding usually
changes their shapes and activities.

In a paper published in the journal PLoS Pathogens (April 14), scientists at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison suggest that certain soil types serve as natural
prion repositories in the wild. As animals regularly consume soil to meet their
mineral needs, it's possible that prion-laden soil particles contribute to the
transmission of prion disease such as CWD among animals.

CWD is a fatal, incurable condition that belongs to a family of prion-inflicted
neurological disorders known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE).
Other TSEs include "mad cow" disease, sheep scrapie and Creutzfeldt-Jacob
disease in humans.

After a long incubation period, deer and elk infected with CWD suffer
neurological and behavioral problems such as staggering, shaking and excessive
salivation and urination. Over time, the animals literally waste away, often
dying in woods and fields. Originally detected in the 1960s in Colorado and
Wyoming, CWD is now present in 14 states and two Canadian provinces.

Prions are an incorrectly folded variation of a protein normally found in
mammals, including humans.

"Prions most likely enter soil via excretion or from the carcasses of infected
animals," says lead author Christopher Johnson, a UW-Madison doctoral student in
the department of animal health and biomedical sciences. "Our results suggest
that reducing the number of infected animals - as has been done in the recent
outbreak of CWD in Wisconsin - could limit the potential for further (disease)
spread. These results also suggest that other species that share ranges with
CWD-infected deer may be exposed to soil-bound prions, increasing the potential
of CWD transferring to other species."

This may just be the case. Last year, Colorado authorities documented the first
known instance of CWD in a wild moose, a species previously not known to be
susceptible to CWD. It is unknown how the moose became infected. The known
range of the disease continues to spread eastward from where it was first
discovered in Wyoming and Colorado to deer-rich states such as West Virginia,
where CWD was first detected last September.

Using a variety of laboratory procedures, the UW-Madison team measured the
affinity of prions to three common soil minerals: quartz, kaolinite and
montmorillonite. The infectious prions, they found, bind tightly to
montmorillonite, a type of clay found in soil.

"We also wanted to determine how difficult it is to remove prions from clay,"
says senior author Joel Pedersen, a UW-Madison assistant professor of soil
science. "It turned out to be extremely difficult."

In fact, prions could be released from clay only when the scientists boiled the
clay-bound proteins in a detergent solution.

To ascertain whether prions remain infectious in soil, the researchers also
injected clay-bound prions into laboratory animals. The animals began to show
TSE symptoms at approximately the same time as animals injected with only
prions.

"That result indicates that interactions with the clay mineral do little to
reduce prion potency," says co-author Debbie McKenzie, a senior scientist in
UW-Madison's School of Veterinary Medicine. "Knowing that prions could be
maintained in the environment makes it important to continue removing as many
CWD-infected deer as we can," she says.

"While injecting clay-bound prions into experimental animals has shown that they
remain infectious, more environmentally relevant exposure routes need to be
examined," says Pedersen. Experiments examining oral infectivity are under