"The highly contagious chronic wasting disease (CWD) was found during routine screening in the carcass of a young white-tailed doe that was struck by a vehicle in Holmes county, close to the Alabama border, early last month. The only previous recorded instance in Florida was in a four-year-old doe killed about a mile away in June 2023. Experts are warning of a domino effect on wildlife management if the neurodegenerative disease, more prevalent in western and north-eastern states, is not contained."
"Although not harmful to humans, it has no vaccine or cure, and spreads easily through animal to animal contact, environmental contamination, and ticks. This disease right now is probably the greatest threat to deer and deer hunting in North America, said wildlife biologist Steven Shea, an expert in deer populations who manages more than half a million acres of species habitat in central Florida."
Wildlife officials in Florida identified a second case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a young white-tailed doe found after a vehicle collision in Holmes County near the Alabama border. The state's first confirmed case occurred about a mile away in June 2023. CWD is a highly contagious neurodegenerative prion disease with no vaccine or cure that spreads via direct contact, environmental contamination, and ticks. Infected deer can be asymptomatic for years before showing weight loss, behavioral changes, loss of coordination, excessive salivation, and death. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission established a special management zone, enhanced surveillance in Holmes, Jackson, and Washington counties, and is testing 90 animals to limit spread.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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