To reduce the spread of a fatal, neurological disease in deer, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) proposed several amendments to statewide chronic wasting disease (CWD) rules.
In a presentation to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission Sept. 15, Mitch Lockwood, TPWD big game program director, said the amendments are needed to mitigate risks not addressed in the current rules.
“The epidemiology of the situation suggests the comprehensive CWD rules were not effective at early detection or at disease containment,” Lockwood said. “We think many of the shortcomings can be addressed by modifying the surveillance requirements for deer breeding facilities.”
A free-ranging deer in the Lubbock area tested positive for CWD in early March.
Since March 23, CWD has been detected at seven permitted deer breeding facilities in Texas. Those facilities were quarantined to prevent the further spread of the disease.
Then, sites that shipped deer to those facilities, or received deer from them, over the past five years were placed on hold—unable to ship or receive deer while animal health officials investigated.
To address concerns CWD was being transferred from facilities where the disease may exist undetected, TPWD issued emergency CWD rules in late June.
Those rules are set to expire in December.
The amendments proposed by TPWD in September would require post-mortem testing for CWD on all deer mortalities at deer breeding facilities if the deer is at least 12 months old or older.
“We concur with stakeholder recommendations to require postmortem samples to be reported and submitted to the lab within seven days,” Lockwood said. “We also concur with the stakeholder recommendation to increase the minimum expected postmortem test, but we propose the rate to be five percent.”
Antemortem, or live animal, testing would be required for all deer before they’re released at a new site or facility.
“Staff believe the requirement of the emergency rules to antemortem test all deer prior to release should be maintained, but we recommend the time during which that testing may occur to eight months,” Lockwood said.
No deer under six months old will be tested and therefore, deer under six months of age, cannot be released under the new amendment.
“We believe this requirement is so important that a facility should lose movement qualified status if deer are transferred in violation of this requirement,” he said.
If that happens, Lockwood noted a facility should be required to follow-up with whole herd antemortem testing of all release-eligible deer.
A testing plan would also be required for the site where the deer would be released.
“Limiting the number of breeding facilities that a nursing facility could receive fawns from, in a given season, to one is something that the CWD task force felt strongly about,” Lockwood said. “Commingling deer from different facilities has long been a concern of the department and Texas Animal Health Commission.”
The proposal would also discontinue what some people call the rent-a-buck program.
“A breeder buck would not be allowed to return to a breeding facility after being utilized in a DMP (Deer Management Permit) facility,” Lockwood said.
The Trap, Transport and Transplant (TTT) program would also be suspended until it can be thoroughly evaluated. TPWD staff want to determine if the program can resume without adding risk for disease transmission.
The proposal would also change proof-of-sex requirements to encourage owners to leave the risk parts of a deer carcass at the site of harvest.
“To facilitate this, we proposed changes to the proof of sex requirements to allow for sex organs accompanied by the tail to serve as proof of sex and species for does,” Lockwood said. “We chose to focus on doe deer right now, just because that’s simple to address in the short term. Antlers add complication, and more vetting with the white-tailed deer advisory committee is necessary to consider additional proof of sex alternatives.”
In addition to the proposed amendments to statewide CWD rules, the commission also recently approved new CWD surveillance and containment zones in areas where deer with CWD have been found to prevent the further spread of the disease.
The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) hosted a special meeting on CWD Sept. 20 to go over some of the information presented at the TPWD hearing and to hear from other stakeholders.
Kip Dove, who farms and ranches near Three Rivers, spoke on behalf of Texas Farm Bureau as a member of TFB’s Wildlife and Game Ranch Advisory Committee.
“In Texas, hunting is big business and a vital part of rural economy. Each year, thousands of farmers and ranchers across the state supplement their farming income by leasing for hunting,” Dove said.
Hunters stay in rural motels, shop at gas stations and grocery stores, eat at family restaurants and buy hunting supplies at local outfitters.
He pointed out that Texas is also home to more than 900 high-fenced white-tail deer breeding facilities that also contribute substantially to the rural economy.
“They employ fence builders, maintenance workers, service companies, wildlife biologists, and many others to run high-tech breeding operations. Many have constructed on-site lodging which employ hospitality staff,” Dove said. “These facilities have greatly increased the tax base in many rural counties.”
While much is still unknown about CWD, Dove said it’s clear that some degree of regulation should be in place to help minimize the risk of transmission and movement of the disease.
“Any such regulation should be based on the best available science and carefully balance the risk verse the economic impacts to the state and the state’s deer breeders,” Dove said.
CWD is a neurodegenerative disease that affects cervid species like white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, red deer and sika.
Cervids may be exposed to CWD by direct contact with an infected animal or by coming into contact with items in the environment an infected animal has been exposed to.
Infected deer can shed CWD prions through their saliva, urine, feces, blood and soft antler material for years before showing outward symptoms of the disease.
The soil can become contaminated through the decomposition of a dead infected animal.
CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy and is in the same family of diseases as scrapie, “Mad Cow,” and Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no evidence CWD poses a serious risk to human health, but as a precaution, hunters are encouraged to avoid consuming meat from animals that are infected.
TPWD will publish the proposal in the Texas Register and accept comments on the proposals before the commission takes further action.
The Texas Register is published weekly on the Texas Secretary of State’s website.