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Two more elk killed by hunters test positive for wasting disease
10/25/02
HOT SULPHUR SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - Two elk killed by hunters in Middle Park tested positive for chronic wasting disease, wildlife officials said Thursday.
Three elk have now been found with the fatal brain disease in Middle Park, about 60 miles northwest of Denver. The animals were killed Oct. 12, one about five miles northeast of Kremmling and the other about seven miles northwest of Granby.
The first was killed by an archery hunter west of Green Mountain Reservoir last month.
Hunters have submitted more than 6,000 animals for testing to the Division of Wildlife. Of the 2,000 tested so far, 25 had the disease. Testing is done by Colorado State University.
The terminal illness eats holes in the animal's brain and leaves the animal emaciated.
Chronic wasting is in the same family as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, but they appear to be caused by different strains of mutant protein.
There is no evidence the disease can be transmitted to livestock or humans, but scientists say they cannot rule it out.
State wildlife officials have asked hunters to submit the heads of their animals for testing, both to let hunters know if an animal has wasting disease, and to monitor whether the disease is spreading.
The disease has been known since at least the 1970s in Colorado and Wyoming. It has been found more recently in Minnesota, New Mexico, Nebraska, Montana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Canada.
10/25/02
HOT SULPHUR SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - Two elk killed by hunters in Middle Park tested positive for chronic wasting disease, wildlife officials said Thursday.
Three elk have now been found with the fatal brain disease in Middle Park, about 60 miles northwest of Denver. The animals were killed Oct. 12, one about five miles northeast of Kremmling and the other about seven miles northwest of Granby.
The first was killed by an archery hunter west of Green Mountain Reservoir last month.
Hunters have submitted more than 6,000 animals for testing to the Division of Wildlife. Of the 2,000 tested so far, 25 had the disease. Testing is done by Colorado State University.
The terminal illness eats holes in the animal's brain and leaves the animal emaciated.
Chronic wasting is in the same family as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, but they appear to be caused by different strains of mutant protein.
There is no evidence the disease can be transmitted to livestock or humans, but scientists say they cannot rule it out.
State wildlife officials have asked hunters to submit the heads of their animals for testing, both to let hunters know if an animal has wasting disease, and to monitor whether the disease is spreading.
The disease has been known since at least the 1970s in Colorado and Wyoming. It has been found more recently in Minnesota, New Mexico, Nebraska, Montana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Canada.
