Department plans to collect samples from 3,200 hunter-harvested deer

PRATT – The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks is working with dozens of individuals and organizations around the state to collect tissue samples from hunter-harvested deer during the 2006 hunting seasons. The department’s goal is to analyze tissue from 3,200 deer to monitor deer herd health and to check for any occurrence of chronic wasting disease (CWD).

Numerous individuals around the state are working with the department and hunters to collect tissue samples from deer taken during the current hunting seasons. The procedure involves extraction of lymph nodes from the throat of the animal. The samples are then submitted to a Kansas State University laboratory for analysis.

Hunters interested in submitting their deer for testing may contact individuals listed below to arrange for tissue extraction. KDWP will post sampling results on its website once lab analysis is completed. Results should be available by late December, and will be posted on the department’s website, www.kdwp.state.ks.us.

The state’s first documented case of CWD in wild deer occurred in December 2005 in a whitetail doe taken in Cheyenne County. KDWP biologists have collected tissue samples from deer taken by Kansas hunters since 1996 to monitor deer herd health.

CWD attacks the central nervous system of infected animals, and is within a group of similar diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE). While CWD can spread among deer and elk, it is not known to transmit to humans, livestock, or other animals. For more information on CWD, see page 19 of the “2006 Kansas Hunting and Furharvesting Regulations Summary,” or go to the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website ( www.cwd-info.org).

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