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Chronic Wasting Disease - Q & A

If regulations prohibit the importation of any brain or spinal column tissue, what body parts are allowed?

• Meat that is cut and wrapped (either commercially or privately).
• Quarters or other portions of meat with no part of the spinal column (backbone) or head (skull) attached.
• Meat that has been boned out.
• Hides with no heads (skull) attached.
• Clean (no meat or tissue attached) skull plates with antlers attached.
• Antlers with no meat or tissue attached.
• Upper canine teeth, also known as “buglers,” “whistlers,” or “ivories.”
• Finished taxidermy.

What if proof of sex is required by a wildlife agency?

• Nothing in these new carcass transportation regulations allow the hunter to remove evidence of sex and species as required in the regulations of most states. In areas where proof of sex is required, hunters should leave an external sex organ naturally attached to an edible portion. In areas where proof of deer species is required, hunters should leave the tail naturally attached to an edible portion.

How can I prepare for possible taxidermy work?

• If you are going to have a non-California taxidermist work on an out-of-state harvested deer or elk, the taxidermist will dispose of the head for you. If you want a California taxidermist to do the mounting, you should have the head caped and the skull disposed of out-of-state prior to entry into California. You may transport the hide or cleaned skull plate with antlers attached into California. If you prefer European style mounts, you can have this work done by an out-of-state taxidermist, and only transport the finished head/skull.

If I want to keep my deer antlers from a deer harvested out-of-state, what should I do?

• You can use a saw to remove antlers, but you should clean and disinfect the saw afterwards. Unless it is soaked in strong chlorine bleach, the saw should not be used on any other part of the carcass.

Can I bring quarters into California – in other words, meat with bones in it?

• Yes. You do not need to de-bone your out-of-state harvested deer or elk carcass. California only prohibits the importation of the skull and backbone. The skull plate is allowed if all brain material are cleared away and disinfected with a strong chlorine bleach solution.

What is Chronic Wasting Disease?

• CWD is a rare disease affecting the brains of mule deer, black-tailed deer, white-tailed deer and elk. The disease belongs to a group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Other TSEs include scrapie of domestic sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) of cattle, and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (CJD) of humans. New variant CJD – probably linked to the BSE agent – has been found in Great Britain. There is no known cure for TSEs, and they are always fatal in susceptible host species.

How does an animal with CWD act?

• Deer and elk affected with CWD show poor body condition, emaciation, hair loss, drooping ears, head held low, stumbling gait, slow reaction to the presence of humans, and excessive salivation. Not all individual animals show all the typical signs.

What should I do if I see a deer or elk that shows symptoms of CWD?

• You should accurately document the location of the animal and immediately contact the local DFG office or the DFG Wildlife Investigations Lab at (916) 358-2790. Do not attempt to contact, disturb, kill, or remove the animal. Keep in mind that there are many causes of emaciation and other signs suggestive of CWD in deer and elk. Diagnosis of CWD comes only through specific testing of the brain stem or pharyngeal lymph nodes of the affected animal. DFG has an ongoing CWD surveillance program, and there have been no cases of CWD identified.

Can CWD be transported to new areas by moving a CWD-infected deer or elk carcass from one place to another?

• Little is known about how CWD is spread, and there is concern that CWD may be moved to new areas by the transport of certain infected animal parts, especially those parts containing abundant nervous tissue (brain and spinal cord). To minimize this possibility, the California Fish and Game Commission adopted new regulations in April 2003 that prohibit anyone from transporting into California the skull or backbone from any deer or elk harvested elsewhere.

What if I hunt outside California?

• CWD has been found in wild deer and elk in eight states (Colorado, Illinois, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming) and in Saskatchewan, Canada. If you plan to hunt outside of the state, be aware of the new California regulations restricting the transportation of carcasses of deer or elk harvested out-of-state. These regulations minimize the risk of bringing CWD to California in an infected carcass.

How should I clean my knives, saws and other butchering equipment? What destroys prions?

• Prions, thought to be the causative agent of CWD, are very resistant to disinfection. In areas where CWD exist, the best recommendation is to disinfect butchering equipment with strong chlorine bleach (household bleach works well).

Why shouldn't I eat certain parts of my deer and elk harvested in known CWD areas?

• While the infectious agent that produces CWD in deer and elk has not been positively identified, there remains strong evidence to suggest that abnormally shaped proteins, called prions, are responsible. Research indicates that the prions accumulate only in certain parts of infected animals – the brain, eyes, spinal cord, lymph nodes, tonsils and spleen. Based upon these findings, it is recommended that hunters consume only muscle tissue from animals harvested in known CWD areas even though currently there is no scientific evidence that CWD can spread to humans. The Center of Disease Control has thoroughly investigated any connection between CWD and the human forms of TSEs and stated, “the risk of infection with the CWD agent among hunters is extremely small, if it exists at all,” and “it is extremely unlikely that CWD would be a food borne hazard.”

Do CWD-affected states have any testing regulations?

• Some states require testing in areas where the disease has been identified, and voluntary testing for carcasses harvested outside the CWD-affected area. Those states will notify hunters of their responsibilities. Be sure to read the literature that accompanies your out-of-state tag. Hunters who want to have their harvested deer or elk tested for CWD can contact that state’s wildlife authorities for information. There may be a fee for such an examination.

Once I bring my hunter-harvested deer into California, can I get it tested for CWD?

• No. DFG prohibits the transport of the deer or elk head into California. If you want to get your deer/elk tested, contact the state wildlife agency of the state where you will be hunting to learn where to get CWD testing performed.

I usually dump my deer bones in a pasture. Can other deer get CWD from the bones?

• No one knows for sure. Although no occurrences have been documented, there is concern that CWD could be moved to new areas by the transport of certain infected animal parts, especially nervous tissue (such as brain and spinal cord), and improper disposal allowing native deer or elk to come into contact with the prions. DFG recommends that the bones be double bagged in strong garbage bags and disposed of at a landfill with an approved dead animal pit.

Is there a risk of harvesting a deer or elk with CWD in California?

• If you hunt deer and elk in California, there is no known cause for concern. DFG has been sampling California’s deer herds since 1999 and has found no evidence of CWD. As of September 2003, more than 1,100 brain samples have been collected and tested. All submitted specimens have tested negative for CWD. The Department plans on continuing the CWD surveillance program indefinitely and will test at least 600 deer and 50 elk annually. California is considered a “low risk” state for CWD since the ranching of cervids is not allowed (except for fallow deer), importation of elk is not allowed (banned by the state Legislature in the early 1980s), and the importation of any cervid is strictly limited.

What about deer harvested in California? Can they be tested for CWD?

• DFG continues its surveillance program to monitor free-ranging deer and elk in California. If you are interested in volunteering your deer/elk carcass for testing, contact the DFG’s Wildlife Investigations Laboratory in Rancho Cordova at (916) 358-2790. For CWD testing only a small sample of the brain stem and lymph nodes located in the throat area are necessary.

Does CWD affect antelope or bighorn sheep?

• No, CWD does not appear to affect antelope or bighorn sheep. CWD has only been diagnosed in elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer and hybrids (mule deer X white-tailed deer). Pronghorns, bighorn sheep, mouflon, and other more distantly related species – even though they may be exposed to the disease – have never come down with CWD.