US House panel demands govt plan for deer/elk disease
Date: 17-May-02
Country: USA
The deadly ailment, known as chronic wasting disease (CWD), has spread to eight western and midwestern states. Scientists do not know if CWD can infect humans that eat meat from diseased animals, but the World Health Organization has advised against eating venison or any part of an animal showing signs of the disease.
Officials in Wisconsin announced two weeks ago that the state would kill some 15,000 white-tailed deer to stop the spread of the disease.
The disease has also been found in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, Kansas and Oklahoma.
Colorado Rep. Scott McInnis, chairman of a House Resources subcommittee, urged the USDA, Interior Department, Justice Department and other federal agencies to quickly put together a plan to help states control CWD.
If federal officials do not have a proposal ready by the end of May, Congress will step in, McInnis told a subcommittee hearing.
"If we don't get a unified recommendation out of the agencies in the next 10 days, I've got a bill drafted and ready to go," McInnis said.
A plan must lay out how the federal government will help state officials fight CWD and how much new money is needed for research, testing and eradication, he said.
CWD is part of a family of diseases that includes scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known as mad cow disease. The CWD disease slowly destroys the brain and nervous system of infected deer and elk. Animals with the illness are listless, lose weight, have blank facial expressions and show repetitive walking patterns.
Wisconsin Governor Scott McCallum urged the House panel to fund research into whether CWD can be transmitted to humans, other wildlife or farm livestock. Since the first diseased animal was found in Wisconsin on Feb. 28, the state has spent about $600,000, he said.
Deer hunting is a $1 billion industry in Wisconsin, which also has more than 1,000 deer and elk farms to produce venison for restaurants.
McCallum said the USDA should provide $18 million in assistance over the next four years to help Wisconsin prevent CWD from spreading.
"Much like a major forest fire, CWD can overwhelm the disease fighting resources of a single state," McCallum said. "This week I called our state legislature into special session to approve $4 million in emergency state funding."
Sen. Russell Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, said federal help was badly needed to protect livestock and food safety.
"Federal and state cooperation will protect animal welfare, safeguard our valued livestock industry, provide relief to family elk ranchers, help guarantee America's food safety and protect the public health," Feingold told the House panel in testimony.
The deadly disease was first discovered in 1967 in Colorado mule deer.
