Written by Greg Flees,
Exotic Wildlife Association
Deer farmers are unfairly targeted in a recent article the Cap Times ran by Wisconsin Public Radio about chronic wasting disease. The piece attempts to blame deer farms for the spread of CWD, but it fails to mention important information.
Much of the article relies on the opinion of USGS employee Bryan Richards. Yet Richards himself has admitted elsewhere that the top threat of CWD is through hunters inadvertently spreading the disease. “Probably the biggest risk of disease spreading is the inadvertent movement of infectious materials or carcasses by hunters,” he has said.
That makes sense — because deer farms are low-risk. Deer farms that move animals have to abide by very stringent regulations, including mandatory CWD testing of all eligible animals. They are closed environments that test regularly. But just because they find CWD doesn’t mean they are the source; free-roaming deer have been spreading the disease for decades. The state of Wisconsin has found over 4,000 free-ranging CWD positives testing less than 1 percent of deaths. Imagine how many positives they would be finding if they were testing at 50-100 percent like deer farms are required to do. Read More >>
