It is widely viewed as one of the most significant challenges in the history of modern wildlife conservation. CWD is virtually impossible to eradicate once established in the wild. Infected animals can start shedding prions nearly a year before showing clinical signs of the disease. Deer shed prions in urine, feces, and saliva, and prions are found in infected carcasses long after the animal dies.
The prions (the infectious particles) bind to soil and are known to last for at least 16 years. Left unchecked, CWD will do irreparable harm to deer herds throughout New England, including Maine.ĬWD is transmitted from deer‐to‐deer or from environmental contamination. Without action by hunters and state and provincial fish and wildlife agencies, CWD will continue to spread. CWD is always fatal –there is no treatment, no vaccine, and no resistance. It wears a deer down and eventually kills every infected animal.
We know from our telemetry project that Maine white-tailed deer range into Quebec in the summer months.ĬWD is readily spread from deer to deer. These memories and traditions are threatened by a serious and fatal disease: chronic wasting disease or “CWD.” This disease now occurs in 26 states and four Canadian provinces, most recently in Quebec less than 100 miles from the Vermont border. These include valued time hunting with friends and family, outdoor activity, memories of hunting camp, and fresh venison, among many other values associated with deer and deer hunting. With careful management, hunters throughout the Northeast have enjoyed the rich traditions associated with deer hunting. Your help is needed to protect Maine’s deer and moose populations from a devastating disease.ĭuring the last century, state and Provincial fish and wildlife agencies, with the support of hunters, restored the white-tailed deer to a condition of abundance.
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