No chronic wasting disease found in PA wild deer during 2010 season

Pennsylvania Game Commission
Centre Daily Times
April 22, 2011

HARRISBURG, Pa. /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Chronic wasting disease (CWD) was not found in samples taken from hunter-killed deer during the state's 2010 hunting season, according to Dr. Walt Cottrell, Pennsylvania Game Commission wildlife veterinarian.

In 2010, 3,882 samples from hunter-killed deer were tested, and CWD was not detected. This marked the ninth year for testing hunter-killed deer. In total, nearly 30,000 deer have been tested. CWD was not detected in any samples from previous years.

Results showing that the CWD tests of hunter-killed elk from 2010 were all negative were announced on
Jan. 5.

"We are pleased to report that Pennsylvania continues to have no confirmed or suspected cases of CWD in wild deer or elk," Cottrell said. "By conducting these tests from a random sample of hunter-killed deer and on all hunter-killed elk, we continue our efforts to find the disease in wild deer and elk in the state."

The CWD tests on deer and elk samples were conducted by the New Bolton Center, which is the University of Pennsylvania's veterinary diagnostic laboratory. Under a contract with Penn State University, the elk samples also were tested for brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis and found to be free of those diseases.

Full text:
http://www.centredaily.com/2011/04/22/2664728/cwd-not-found-in-pennsylvania.html