Michigan agriculture and animal health officials today implemented a one-year ban on all imports of deer and elk into the state due to Chronic Wasting Disease concerns, according to Dan Wyant, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA). The Department oversees the licensing, registration and inspection of the state’s approximately 900 cervid, or farmed deer and elk, operations.

Wyant said the ban becomes effective today and will remain in place until April 25, 2003, with a full review slated after six months.

"While the state has taken strong preventive actions to date regarding Chronic Wasting Disease, we felt this additional step was necessary to ensure that we were doing everything possible to keep Michigan free from this disease and to protect both the privately-owned cervid industry and our wild deer and elk herds from exposure to this deadly disease," Wyant said. "We look forward to working cooperatively with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan deer and elk farmers, and the state’s hunting and sportsmen communities as we enhance and implement CWD surveillance and testing efforts."

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is newly emerging and not fully understood at this point. It is a disease of deer and elk that attacks the animals’ nervous systems, causing chronic weight loss that eventually leads to death. It is not known to be contagious to humans, livestock or other animals.

Previously, Michigan law prohibited the importation of any deer or elk from a county or adjoining county in any state or province where CWD has been diagnosed. In addition, cervids brought into Michigan were required to obtain a pre-entry permit, accompanied by a health certificate and statement from an accredited veterinarian attesting that the animals had not been exposed to CWD.

CWD has been diagnosed in captive deer and elk herds in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. It has been confirmed in wild deer herds in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Saskatchewan and most recently, Wisconsin. CWD has not been found in Michigan to date.

Dr. Joan Arnoldi, Michigan State Veterinarian and Director of MDA’s Animal Industry Division, said the year will be spent gathering important scientific information on the scope and range of the disease and conducting CWD testing on all death losses from captive, or privately owned, cervids over 16 months of age.

In addition to MDA’s mandatory surveillance of farmed deer and elk, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MNDR) is planning an extensive 2002 CWD surveillance survey of the state’s wild deer and elk herds.

MDNR Director K.L. Cool said the ban is a vital component of preventing CWD in Michigan.

"This is an appropriate and responsible action in light of the risk posed by CWD," Cool said. "We fully support this move and will continue working with MDA cooperatively to prevent CWD in Michigan."

Since 1998, more than 450 wild deer in Michigan have been tested for CWD and found to be negative.

For more information on Chronic Wasting Disease, visit www.dnr.state.mi.us, www.michigan.gov/mda, or www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/cwd/.

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