DNR and MDA to Hold Town Hall Meeting in CWD Surveillance Zone in Kent County Contact: Mary Dettloff (DNR) or Bridget Patrick (MDA) 517-335-3014 or 517-241-2669
Agency: No Worker Left Behind
September 5, 2008
The Michigan departments of Natural Resources (DNR) and Agriculture (MDA) will hold a town hall meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at the West Walker Sportman's Club in Grand Rapids to answer questions pertaining to Chronic Wasting Disease. The club is located at 0-599 Leonard St. NW in Grand Rapids. The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. and conclude at 8:30 p.m.
"This meeting is intended to give hunters and the general public a chance to have their questions answered about CWD and special hunting regulations for Kent County this fall," said Dr. Steve Schmitt, DNR wildlife veterinarian. "We want to provide as much information as we can to the citizens of Kent County about the disease and its impact on deer farming and hunting."
Dr. Schmitt and Dr. Steve Halstead, the state veterinarian from MDA, give brief presentations, and then the meeting will be opened up for questions. Ann Nieuwenhuis, a Michigan State University Extension emergency planning specialist, will moderate the meeting.
More information about the West Walker Sportsman's Club in Grand Rapids is available on the club's Web site at www.wwsc.org under the "Club Info" menu.
The DNR and MDA announced the state's first case of CWD in a three-year old doe at a private deer breeding facility in Kent County on Aug. 25. CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose. Most cases of the disease have been in western states, but in the past several years, it has spread to Midwestern and eastern states. Infected animals display abnormal behaviors, loss of bodily functions and a progressive weight loss. Current evidence suggests the disease is transmitted through infectious, self-multiplying proteins (prions). Prions are normal cell proteins whose shape has been transformed, causing CWD. The disease is transmitted by exposure to saliva of infected animals. Susceptible animals can also acquire CWD by eating feces from an infected animal, or soil contaminated by them. Once contaminated, soil can remain a source of infection for many years, making CWD a particularly difficult disease to manage.
DNR officials remind citizens that, to date, there is no evidence that CWD poses a risk to humans, nor has there been verified evidence that the disease can be transmitted to humans. More information about CWD is available on the State of Michigan's Emerging Diseases Web site at www.michigan.gov/chronicwastingdisease.





