Although chronic wasting disease is spreading in Wisconsin and Michigan deer herds and tuberculosis has been found in the northwestern deer population in northern Michigan, no reports of these sicknesses have been detected in Indiana's deer population.

Nevertheless, the State Board of Animal Health and Department of Natural Resources are monitoring the situation and will conduct voluntary testing beginning Nov. 16, the first day of gun season.

"Because of CWD problems in other states, we are prohibiting importation of cervids for one year," said Denise Derrer, public relations director of the Board of Animal Health. "CWD is not in Indiana or in a bordering state."

The disease is cause for concern, though, now that it is west of the Mississippi River.

First identified in Colorado in 1967, CWD is part of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies family of diseases, which includes mad cow disease in cattle. The organism that causes the disease literally eats holes through the animal's brain - causing it to have a spongy look.

While CWD is related to other well-known diseases, such as scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, public health officials have not found CWD in deer or elk to be transmitted to humans.

It is always fatal to the infected animal.

For years, the illness stayed in Western states and was found in wild deer and elk in Wyoming in 1985 as well as Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces in Canada. In the last six years, health departments have seen a big jump in cases, and now CWD is in 10 states.

"Now that it is in Wisconsin, we're very concerned," Derrer said. "Our deer population, as far as we know, is healthy. There have been no cases of TB or CWD in Indiana in the last three years. This year we're stepping up survellence."

Hunters will be asked to donate the heads of their animals on a voluntary basis. They may keep the skull cap and antlers and have the meat processed.

The BOAH wants to collect 3,300 brain tissue samples in all the state's counties, including 61 from Kosciusko; 46 from Whitley; 34 from Elkhart; 54 each from Noble and Marshall; and 47 from Fulton County.

Last year hunters harvested 932 antlered and 867 antlerless, or a total of 1,926 deer.

Deer usually stay in a one- to two-mile area unless they are hungry. Then they've been known to travel 100 miles for a more abundant habitat.

Hunters contributing deer heads to the BOAH next month will not be notified of test results unless a positive test is confirmed.

The organism causing the disease is found in the animal's organs, not the muscle. There shouldn't be any problem with eating the meat, Derrer said. CWD test results aren't expected until May or June.

"We aren't on a high priority list to the few labs equipped with the testing equipment. Wisconsin is, it's there, and they'll be sending more than 50,000 samples. We'll pull 1,000 samples. That will tell us if the disease is even in the state," Derrer said.

There are more than 400 captive cervid farms in the state raising elk, white-tailed deer and fallow deer. Some are raised for meat, others for breeding stock.

"It's a niche livestock market. There's a huge farm in Fulton County," she said. "In your county, there are several Amish farms with captive deer." [[In-content Ad]]