Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it's important to remember that Minnesota's cherished wild white-tailed deer herd remains threatened by Chronic Wasting Disease.
At 9:45 a.m., the Minnesota House and Senate Environment and Natural Resources Finance committees will conduct a joint Remote Hearing that's an Update on Chronic Wasting Disease Efforts. Agenda here.
The public can watch the hearing via streaming media, listed on the House Committee's webpage:
This remote hearing may be viewed live via the following platforms:
Live stream via House website
Facebook Live
We'll probably be watching via MNHouse Info's YouTube channel HTV1.The YouTube archive of the meeting will be embedded in this post when it is available.
Here's the YouTube archive of the hearing, via the Minnesota House Information Services Channel:
Here are the attachments that those testifying will reference:
- Agenda - 8/31/2020
- U of M CWD Presentation - 8/31/2020
- Article on CWD - 8/31/2020
- U of M CWD Booklet - 8/31/2020
- U of M CWD Booklet Hmong - 8/31/2020
- U of M CWD Booklet Information - 8/31/2020
- DNR-MPCA CWD Presentation - 8/31/2020
- BAH Handout - 8/31/2020
- Bluffland Whitetails Written Testimony - 8/31/2020
- Draft Technical Fix Bill - 8/31/2020
- CIDRAP CWD Presentation - 8/31/2020
We embed some of the scientific work that caught our interest. First, a scientific paper that concerns the Bluffland Whitetails Association, which wrote:
. . . I am attaching a link to a peer reviewed study CWD transmission through oral exposure that I would like the Committee to have (and enter into the record).
CWD continues to pose a significant threat to Minnesota’s wild cervid herd. In addition to the health of our wild deer, there are threats to our outdoor recreation and the industries that benefit from deer hunting across the State. Actions by the Board of Animal Health to manage threats from the captive cervid industry have been slow and largely unmeasurable in protecting our State’s natural asset.
As we learn more about CWD we see new evidence that the disease could become increasingly problematic due to prions binding to plants. This may lead to additional vectors of transmission that could rapidly spread the disease across the state. There has also been concern raised that CWD could bind to water sources, which would also be catastrophic should research confirm this hypothesis.
Bluffland Whitetails Association urges the legislature to enact significant legislation to contain and manage the spread of CWD, to protect the health of our wild deer, and to preserve our strong deer hunting tradition.
Here's the paper (source):
Very low oral exposure to prions of brain or saliva origin can transmit chronic wasting disease uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
Another document of interest is the U of M CWD Presentation by Dr. Peter Larsen of the University of Minnesota:
CWD: Research and Outreach Update uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
We hoping making the science readily accessible helps readers follow the hearing.
Photo: White-tail deer aren't out of the woods yet when it comes to CWD.
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