New Hampshire is still free of chronic wasting disease, a variant of “mad cow disease” that shows up in deer, based on monitoring data gathered during the 2016 hunting season.
New Hampshire Fish and Game Department made the announcement Tuesday as part of long-running efforts to keep CWD, which is widespread in western states and has shown up occasionally on the East Coast, but outside of New Hampshire.
Chronic wasting disease is a neurological disorder that is always fatal to white-tailed deer, moose, mule deer, elk and other members of the deer family. While it is not believed that CWD is transmissible to humans, hunters are still advised not to consume animals that may have the disease.
In 2016, a total of 268 tissue samples from hunter-killed deer were tested by state Fish and Game, with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services in Concord. New Hampshire’s monitoring program is part of a nationwide effort to stop the spread of CWD.
Since the monitoring program began in 2002, about 5,817 deer have been tested in New Hampshire.
The state is asking hunters not to use natural urine-based deer lures, out of concern they can inadvertently carry CWD. The state imposes restrictions on importing deer carcasses from areas with CWD.
(David Brooks can be reached at dbrooks@cmonitor.com or 369-3313.)
