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State to inspect elk quarantined at New Mexico ranch.
HORSE SPRINGS, N.M. (AP) - The state Department of Game and Fish and a New Mexico rancher have agreed to kill a herd of elk to see whether the animals have an illness related to mad cow disease.
State game officials quarantined Pearson Ranch near Horse Springs, southwest of Datil in western New Mexico, following the discovery of chronic wasting disease in Colorado.
Ranch owner Marvin Cromwell had purchased six elk from two Colorado ranches on Aug. 18.
Cromwell met Wednesday with state game officials, veterinarians and legal experts. He suggested to officials that his herd be killed in order to protect other wildlife and the state's livestock industry.
"I'm concerned," Cromwell said Wednesday from his home in Rio Rancho. "We want to make sure there's no disease in my area."
Chronic wasting disease, or CWD, was found in the All American Antler Ranch herd in Merino, Colo. Those elk were to be destroyed in about two weeks to help contain the disease. In all, five Colorado ranches were quarantined, officials said.
New Mexico also has banned importation of elk from Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and Canada's Saskatchewan Province, said Larry Bell, the department's director.
Chronic wasting disease is a degenerative disorder that attacks the brains of deer and elk, causing unsteadiness, excessive slobbering, confusion and death.
"You cannot test these animals until they're dead," department animal health specialist Kerry Mower said. "There's no other way to find out."
The state Game and Fish Department plans to buy Cromwell's herd of about 14 elk. The department will essentially reimbursing him what he paid to buy the animals, transport them and test them for other health problems. Mower said he did not know what the cost would be.
Game and Fish employees will kill the animals and collect brain tissue for testing within the next 30 days.
An estimated 700 elk probably will need to be killed at the All American Antler Ranch in Merino, the New Mexico officials said.
New Mexico has at least 80,000 elk roaming, they said. The state has been testing herds for CWD for two years without finding any trace.
Bell said the state will convene a committee of experts to review the situation involving CWD, which belongs to a group of illnesses known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which include mad cow disease.
There are no documented cases of the disease infecting humans, but it is closely related to mad cow disease, which has killed about 100 Europeans.
HORSE SPRINGS, N.M. (AP) - The state Department of Game and Fish and a New Mexico rancher have agreed to kill a herd of elk to see whether the animals have an illness related to mad cow disease.
State game officials quarantined Pearson Ranch near Horse Springs, southwest of Datil in western New Mexico, following the discovery of chronic wasting disease in Colorado.
Ranch owner Marvin Cromwell had purchased six elk from two Colorado ranches on Aug. 18.
Cromwell met Wednesday with state game officials, veterinarians and legal experts. He suggested to officials that his herd be killed in order to protect other wildlife and the state's livestock industry.
"I'm concerned," Cromwell said Wednesday from his home in Rio Rancho. "We want to make sure there's no disease in my area."
Chronic wasting disease, or CWD, was found in the All American Antler Ranch herd in Merino, Colo. Those elk were to be destroyed in about two weeks to help contain the disease. In all, five Colorado ranches were quarantined, officials said.
New Mexico also has banned importation of elk from Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and Canada's Saskatchewan Province, said Larry Bell, the department's director.
Chronic wasting disease is a degenerative disorder that attacks the brains of deer and elk, causing unsteadiness, excessive slobbering, confusion and death.
"You cannot test these animals until they're dead," department animal health specialist Kerry Mower said. "There's no other way to find out."
The state Game and Fish Department plans to buy Cromwell's herd of about 14 elk. The department will essentially reimbursing him what he paid to buy the animals, transport them and test them for other health problems. Mower said he did not know what the cost would be.
Game and Fish employees will kill the animals and collect brain tissue for testing within the next 30 days.
An estimated 700 elk probably will need to be killed at the All American Antler Ranch in Merino, the New Mexico officials said.
New Mexico has at least 80,000 elk roaming, they said. The state has been testing herds for CWD for two years without finding any trace.
Bell said the state will convene a committee of experts to review the situation involving CWD, which belongs to a group of illnesses known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which include mad cow disease.
There are no documented cases of the disease infecting humans, but it is closely related to mad cow disease, which has killed about 100 Europeans.
