State preps for more CWD surveillance and response

The discovery of chronic wasting disease in several parts of Montana has wildlife officials working to spread the word among the public how it can help minimize the impact.

In Northwest Montana, Libby is the epicenter of the situation. In the Libby CWD Zone, 49 positives, out of 1,207 samples, have been collected there since April 2019.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials from Region 1 held a number of open houses there to share strategies for limiting the spread of the disease. It also engaged in a media campaign in an effort to inform the public. Also, for the for first time, the state paid for hunters to have samples of deer, elk or moose they killed tested.

The samples, which were tested at a Colorado State University research lab in Fort Collins, each cost $17.

With more than 1,400 tests performed, they alone cost the agency more than $24,000.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Region 1 spokesman said the agency hired seasonal technicians to help collect samples at the Region 1 office in Kalispell and in Libby.

“Statewide, we spent approximately $500,000 this past year on CWD surveillance and response,” Tabish said. “We were able to provide the Libby response, the regional office technicians and hunter testing this year due to a separate grant we had, but that will expire next year.”

With the grant ending, the agency will review its management strategies, testing results and other collected information to make plans for the next necessary steps in managing the disease.

Money will be of primary importance to Fish, Wildlife & Parks as it hopes to contain the spread of the disease.

At a meeting in Libby in September, agency officials made a presentation to members of the Montana Environmental Quality Council, a state legislative committee that oversees the departments of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Natural Resources and Conservation and Environmental Quality.

In the past, it has helped provide funding for aquatic invasive species programs and oversight at the Libby asbestos Superfund site.

CWD cannot be eradicated once it infects a herd. Transmission most commonly occurs through direct contact between animals, including urine, feces, saliva, blood and antler velvet. Carcasses of infected animals may serve as a source of environmental contamination as well and can infect other animals that come into contact with it.

Some have questioned if other animals, such as wolves, could cause CWD to spread widely.

“It’s possible,” Tabish said. “But we’re not concerned that’s a way the disease could be spread on a wider basis. Predators can actually help because they can take out weaker, infected animals.

“The natural migration of animals and carcasses not being properly disposed of are the main spread of CWD,” he said.

According to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, once CWD prions are excreted into the environment, they can persist for years and withstand extremely high levels of disinfectants such as heat, radiation and formaldehyde.

CWD prions also appear to be capable of binding to certain plants, with the ability to be transported while still potentially remaining infectious. A prion is a type of protein that can trigger normal proteins in the brain to fold abnormally. Prion diseases can affect both humans and animals and are sometimes spread to humans by infected meat products. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, the most common form of prion disease that affects humans is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

The effort to prevent the spread of the disease has included a number of measures.

Fish, Wildlife & Parks Libby Area biologist Tonya Chilton-Radandt implored area residents to talk to their neighbors about not feeding wildlife in town.

Libby Mayor Brent Teske echoed those sentiments.

“It’s important to fence your gardens and collect your fruit, apples, pears, whatever, as soon as possible,” he said. “The inadvertent feedings are also a problem.”

Wildlife officials say they are extremely nervous about how CWD could affect the future.

“Libby drew the short straw, but many other communities could have been affected,” Tabish said. “With increasing urban wildlife populations, CWD has become an issue.

“Nothing has been found in Eureka yet and we’ve had several samples from there.”

Another question Tabish said needs to be answered is what to do with animal carcasses.

“Without being overly restrictive, we need to have a big discussion about what to do with the carcasses,” he said. “We want to have a definite plan before next hunting season and the sooner the better.”

To reduce the spread of CWD, whole carcasses, whole heads or spinal columns cannot be taken out of any CWD Management Zone unless the animal has tested negative for CWD. Hunters are strongly encouraged to dispose of hides, bones and trimmings at approved landfills equipped for CWD, such as the Lincoln County Landfill. If the carcass is processed within the CWD Management Zone, any brain and spinal parts must be discarded in the Lincoln County Landfill.

Wildlife officials also trapped several deer in the Libby CWD zone. All were euthanized with a device similar to a bolt gun which is used to dispatch cattle.

Samples were taken from each euthanized deer. The meat from deer that didn’t test positive for the disease was given to food banks for distribution to those in need. For each animal that did test positive, the remains were disposed of in the Lincoln County Landfill.

Tabish said staff members confirmed that each person who had meat and other remains from an animal infected with the disease had disposed of it at the landfill.

He said officials also met with meat processors and taxidermists to help them apply the same standards and practices to stop the spread of the disease.

Hunters who harvested animals in a CWD zone are required to turn them in for testing.

The Lincoln County Landfill has a designated space and liner for animals. As animals are discarded, the landfill buries the carcasses deep enough to prevent scavenger animals from reaching them.

Fish, Wildlife & Parks will host a public meeting in Libby next month to discuss chronic wasting disease and review response efforts, at 6 p.m., Monday, Jan. 13, at the Libby City Hall Ponderosa Room, 952 E. Spruce St.

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 406-758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com