State of Utah Department of Agriculture and Food

EMERGENCY CWD RULE NOW IN PLACE
TO PROTECT UTAH ELK

Salt Lake City, Utah -- The Division of Animal Industry has implemented an emergency rule requiring all elk imported into Utah come from herds that have been under a recognized surveillance program for at least five years. The rule took affect March 5, 2002, and is intended to protect the state's domestic and wild elk herds from the threat of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). The emergency rule is in effect for 120-days, but is intended to be made permanent.

"The United States is in the midst of an national emergency regarding CWD in elk and deer," said Dr. Mike Marshall, State Veterinarian. "Even with all that has been done to control the disease, new cases continue to show up in wild elk and deer in other states. This has caused us to take a hard look at our present elk import regulations and to implement an emergency CWD elk rule," he added.

Currently CWD is present in the wild in the states of: Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Utah has never had a case of CWD in either wild or domestic elk.

The new rule requires that anyone shipping elk into Utah must first document that the animal originated from a state that has a CWD monitoring and eradication program that has been in operation
for at least five years. Because of the long incubation periods for this disease, the surveillance program must be in existence for an extended period of time as well.

Chronic wasting disease is caused by an infective agent known as a prion (PrP) and has been present in wild deer and elk in northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming since the late 1960's. The disease damages the nerve cells of the brain resulting in vacuoles, which appear as microscopic, sponge-like vacant spaces in the brain tissue. There has been no evidence of natural transmission of the disease to other species of livestock or humans.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Ann Veneman, has taken the first step towards developing a federal program for the eradication of CWD by declaring a national emergency.

The Division of Animal Industry worked with the Utah Elk Breeders Association, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other states as it developed this emergency rule. The new rule may be viewed here.

For more information, contact Dr. Mike Marshall: (801) 538-7161.