Bioguy01,
The deer was donated to a Volunteer Fire Dept. and it was ground up and chili was made from the whole deer. From the report that I read over 300 people ate the chili that the infected meat was made with. I never heard if anyone had any effects from it later on in years. That has been probably 10 or 15 years ago I think. The deer came from a deer farm. That is why all the regulations on the deer farms, because they trade and sell deer back and forth all over the United States.

Let's have a massive, unnaturally dense deer population (any less and a boatload of hunters will claim there are no deer left and rail on the Wildlife Dept.), some huge bait piles, deny there is a problem and that we might be contributing, and see what happens. Great plan.

There is a feeding ban in the county that the infected deer were found and the counties that surround it. You cannot take whole deer from the infected area. The meat needs to be removed from the carcass or at least that was the case a year or two ago. It was already in the wild herd before it was found in WV. I can't be sure but I suspect it came from a taxidermist that mounted alot of elk and mule deer from out west and threw the waste out back of his shop. The infested deer came within 1/4 mile from that location. It can't be proven but it is my educated guess.

Living in Colorado all my life, I have seen the best deer hunting areas turn to dust from CWD. Cherokee Park, Colorado was the best area for deer I have ever seen...the best. I would see over 100 deer in a morning... easily and many huge bucks just driving into my area to hunt. Now...it's a ghost town. The Colorado DOW has not publicized this fact because it generates it's revenue from licenses. They beleive that CWD started around Fort Collins area and spread up the Poudre Canyon to places like Cherokee Park. I have driven the Poudre Canyon several times recently and have yet to see a deer. It has been completely devestating. In my opinion the best deer hunting in Colorado is west of the continental divide and Southern Colorado

Sarge, I've seen two around home over the years that fit the description of CWD. I also had a crop damage permit one summer and killed several with big bare spots on the hide and a strange blue tint to the hide. I was afraid to touch them, much less use the meat. I called our friends in DNR and couldn't seem to get too much response. This was in the days between Jerry and today Mike.

I don't understand it either because the biologist in the next office from me told me that is the way they thought that the disease was spread also by close contact by the deer herd. I think that the dings are a carry over from another site, just speculating.

Sarge01 - Yup, that's the case I was talking about. I did a lot of research on CWD in college, and even assisted with CWD monitoring in NY while working for NYSDEC. NY did a great job at containing the disease, and no positive tests have been confirmed since 2005 when it was found. Hunters were not happy with the aggressive harvest that immediately ensued as soon as CWD was confirmed. Unfortunately, it is a necessary step to keep the disease from spreading. The latest research in PA shows that when young males disperse, they will often travel 5-10 miles, 10-20 mile movements are not uncommon, and at the extreme end they have been known to travel 40+ miles (as the crow flies)! Such movements from infected young deer could really have devastating effects on deer populations that exist in high densities.

I admire that state agencies are monitoring for the disease, but I really think that there are too few samples taken. For disease detection to actually occur, a certain number of animals already need to be infected, and that number will occur in very low prevalence until it starts to spread. NY got lucky and found it in a captive deer. Their aggressive and immediate action found it in a few wild deer. If these actions were not taken, the outcome of CWD in NY might have been similar to Wisconsin, and Wisconsin's experience with CWD has been an absolute nightmare.

It is believed that the spread of the disease has been caused in part by transporting carcasses out of states that are known to be infected. Prions do not break down or die like bacteria or viruses, so improper disposal of infected deer could initiate the disease. Monitoring efforts are very minimal since the cost of monitoring for the disease is pretty high. The problem with minimal monitoring is that if you first discover it in the wild population, chances are elimination of the disease is too late, and efforts need to be geared toward containment. Like I said, NY was lucky to discover it in captive deer first. If I remember correctly, some of the deer in the captive herd were imported from an infected state, and likely they were the source of contamination.

Monitoring efforts have continued in NY, especially in the containment zone, but no new cases were found. PA is next on the hit list. The state Veterinarian already thinks its here, we just haven't found it yet. Based on my research of the subject, I would say that if it's not here now, it will be within the next few years. In PA only 1% of the harvest is tested. Research suggests that 20% of a localized herd would need to be infected in order for initial detection to occur. This is why NY's case was such a fluke! If had not found CWD in the captive deer, they would have never known it was in the state until it was already well established.

Is there a feeding ban in WV by any chance?