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Cerebral reindeer - 2000 animals had to die
Five years quarantine
The herd of 2000 animals to die covers 6% of the total deer population in Norway. After mass killing, the region where the animals live will be quarantined for five years to stop the disease from re-emerging.
Reindeer in Norway suffer from the brain disease that was previously known only in deer in North America (Photo Dr. Utz Anhalt) Other deer are affected
CWD has been diagnosed since 1967. Two years after the infection with the proteins, the first symptoms appear: the saliva flows, the animals lose weight and have an apathetic effect. A few months later they die. Not only for reindeer, but also for other deer the disease is deadly.
No danger to humans
The brain disease is similar to BSE in cattle. However, unlike BSE and some exotic pet animal diseases, there is no evidence that CWD is transmitted to humans.
Pathogen remains for years
Infected animals excrete the infectious prions - with saliva, feces and urine. So they quickly put on other deer. Feeding stations are also a paradise for the pathogen. The prions live in the environment for years, and as many deer live in groups, the risk of infection is enormous.
Long known in North America
Norway was not affected by the disease until recently, so far the CWD broke out in America. At times, 40% of all deer in Wyoming were affected.
Biologists discover CWD
In March last year, biologists discovered a sick reindeer cub in Nordfjella. The dead animal examined veterinarians in Oslo and found CWD.
The prions resembled those in America.
How did the plague come to Norway??
It is unclear how the brain disease reached Norway. Perhaps the reindeer got infected with Hirschurin, which hunters used to bottle in the United States to attract deer and throw the Norwegian hunter into the environment. Or US travelers carried the proteins with them on their clothes.
There are no indications for an infection by animals in game parks or zoos, which came from the USA to Norway.
Spontaneous outbreak?
More likely, however, is a spontaneous outbreak. Prion diseases can arise in the brain of an animal when a protein misfolds and mutates from that form into a contagious one. The Norwegian veterinarians suspect that the epidemic was born.
Also moose affected?
In May 2016, a hunter near Trondheim found two infected moose. It is probably not the same, but a related disease, because reindeer and moose have different prions.
Hardly any danger of epidemics in elks
Moose are enzelgänger - unlike reindeer. Therefore, the risk of infection is low. In addition, the two affected elk were old, and that suggests, according to Norwegian biologists, on a spontaneous development of the disease. The elk of the country are therefore only under stronger surveillance, but are not killed.
Reindeer live in herds
Reindeer are more exposed to a CWD epidemic than any other deer. Among the deer, they are the ones who live in the largest herds. Therefore, the Norwegian expert group decided to take the drastic measure to kill the entire flock in Nordfjella.
restricted area
Until the killing the reindeer are isolated in the 2000 square meter area: No reindeer may leave the area, no new addition. This is relatively easy to implement as the area is surrounded by roads that rarely cross the animals.
Quarantine until 2022
By 2022, the area should remain reindeer-free. Faecal samples are then examined and it is determined whether the pathogens are still infectious. Michael Samuel, of the University of Wisconsin, is familiar with CWD and says, "There's a good chance they'll get the problem under control."
all-clear?
That's not an all-clear. Nobody knows, the dangerous proteins has also taken root in other parts of Norway. Nationwide, therefore, in the next hunting season 20,000 tissue samples of reindeer are examined.
The EU is alarmed
CWD can not only hunt reindeer, but also red deer, fallow deer and deer. Therefore, the EU supervisory authority Efsa recommends monitoring the European deer for three years in seven countries.
Threatened species endangered?
For rare deer species in game parks such as the Father David's deer, the Bucharah or the Mesopotamian fallow deer, the risk of infection is extremely low - they could only theoretically become infected with proteins on people's clothing. But such an outbreak would affect endangered species.
The information comes from the magazine Science. Further information: www.aaas.org (Dr. Utz Anhalt)