Source: http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/08/tpwd-action-disease-detection-and.html
Timestamp: 2018-03-19 20:28:04
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Chronic Wasting Disease: TPWD Action Disease Detection and Response – Chronic Wasting Disease TPW Commission Adopts New CWD Zones, Deer Movement Rules August 25, 2016
http://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20160825b
TPWD Action Disease Detection and Response – Chronic Wasting Disease August 25, 2016 (More Catering to the Industry imo)
Commission Agenda Item No. 3 Presenter: Mitch Lockwood
Action Disease Detection and Response – Chronic Wasting Disease August 25, 2016
I. Executive Summary: This item presents for adoption proposed changes to the department’s rules governing the department’s management efforts in response to the detection or expected detection of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Texas. The proposed changes would:
•Eliminate the Buffer Zone concept;
•Replace the High Risk Zone (HRZ) designation with a Surveillance Zone (SZ) designation;
•Reduce the extent of the initial Containment Zone (CZ) and Surveillance Zone in far west Texas;
•Designate a new CZ and SZ to address the discovery of CWD in the Panhandle during the 2015-16 hunting season;
•Prescribe carcass movement restrictions designed to prevent/retard the inadvertent spread of CWD via the interstate and intrastate movement of dead deer; and
•Designate an SZ without mandatory check stations or carcass movement restrictions in portions of Bandera, Medina, and Uvalde counties in response to the discovery of CWD in multiple deer breeding facilities in that area.
II. Discussion: In July of 2012, the department surveillance efforts in the Hueco Mountains of far west Texas resulted in the discovery of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in two free-ranging mule deer. In response, the Commission promulgated rules to establish zones in which the movement of deer under department permits is restricted to varying degrees, and to implement mandatory check stations in certain areas in order to assess the extent and prevalence of CWD. Department surveillance efforts indicate that CWD has not increased in extent or prevalence in the area of these zones since discovery. In addition, rules governing permitted deer movement reduce the risk of moving the disease out of or within those populations. Thus, staff have determined that the CZ and the SZ in that area can be reduced in size. Unfortunately, during the last hunting season, a hunter-harvested mule deer in the Panhandle was confirmed positive for CWD, necessitating the designation of a CZ and SZ around that location.
On June 30, 2015, the department received confirmation that a two-year-old white-tailed deer held in a deer breeding facility in Medina County had tested positive for CWD. Heightened testing requirements resulted in additional discoveries. A total of 20 white-tailed breeder deer have now been confirmed positive at three deer breeding facilities in Medina County, necessitating the designation of a SZ surrounding those locations. Because local officials have committed to a voluntary effort, mandatory sampling and carcass movement restrictions will not be imposed in this zone at this time. At this time staff do not believe the designation of a CZ in this area is warranted because the breeding facilities where CWD has been discovered are under a TAHC Hold Order and Herd Plan that have equal or greater limits on permitted deer movement than department rules.
Additionally, because prions (the infectious causal agent of CWD) in the tissues of infected animals can be spread from carcasses, causing environmental contamination and a potential infection pathway to free-ranging deer, staff believe prudent restrictions on the transportation of carcasses from states where CWD has been confirmed and from CZs and SZs is warranted.
At the May, 2016 Work Session of the Commission, staff was authorized to publish the proposed rules in the Texas Register for public comment. The proposed rules appeared in the July 22, 2016, issue of the Texas Register (41 TexReg 5391). A summary of public comment on the proposed rules will be presented at the time of the hearing.
“The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopts the repeal of §65.83 and §65.88, amendments to §§65.80-65.82 and 65.84-65.86, and new §65.88 and §65.89, concerning Disease Detection and Response, with changes as necessary to the proposed text as published in the July 22, 2016, issue of the Texas Register (41 TexReg 5391).”
Attachments – 1 1.Exhibit A – Proposed Rules
Commission Agenda Item No. 3 Exhibit A
CWD CONTAINMENT AND SURVEILLANCE/CARCASS MOVEMENT RESTRICTIONS
On July 10, 2012, the department confirmed the first known cases of Texas wildlife infected with chronic wasting disease (CWD) in two free-ranging mule deer in the Hueco Mountains of far west Texas. With that discovery, Texas joined 20 other states and two Canadian provinces where CWD has been detected in free-ranging or captive environments. In response, the department adopted §§65.80-65.88 (37 TexReg 10231), effective January 2, 2013, to establish zones in which the permitted movement of deer is more restricted in order to impede or prevent the spread of CWD, and to implement mandatory check stations in certain areas to determine the geographic extent and prevalence of the disease.
On June 30, 2015, the department received confirmation that a two-year-old white-tailed deer held in a permitted deer breeding facility in Medina County had tested positive for CWD, which was followed by positive test results for white-tailed deer in three additional deer breeding facilities. In addition, a hunter-harvested free-ranging mule deer in Hartley County in the Texas Panhandle tested positive for CWD in the past year. In response, the department first adopted emergency rules (40 TexReg 5566) to respond immediately to the threat, then developed interim rules (41 TexReg 815) intended to function through the 2015-2016 hunting season until permanent rules could be implemented. Working closely with the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the regulated community, and key stakeholders, and with the assistance of the Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution of the University of Texas School of Law, the department developed a rule package to implement a comprehensive CWD management strategy associated with permitted deer management practices involving the permitted movement of live deer (41 TexReg 815). Those rules were approved for adoption by the Parks and Wildlife Commission, with changes, on June 20, 2016 (referred to herein as “comprehensive CWD management rules”). The notice of adoption for the comprehensive CWD management rules will be published in the Texas Register in August of this year. The repeal, amendments, and new section are necessary to harmonize the current rules in Chapter 65, Subchapter B, Division 1 with the rules in Chapter 65, Subchapter B, Division 2, which implement the comprehensive CWD management strategy and to modify types and extent of the zones in which the permitted movement of deer and the movement of deer carcasses are restricted.
The proposed repeal of §65.83, concerning Buffer Zones, is necessary because buffer zones are being eliminated. The current rules impose a three-tiered cordon approach to address the possibility of CWD being spread via permitted deer movements (deer breeder, Triple T, and DMP activities often involve the physical translocation of animals at distances that are far beyond what is possible by free-ranging animals). Currently, the three cordons are the Containment Zone (the area immediately surrounding the location where a CWD-positive animal has been found), the High-Risk Zone (the area surrounding or adjoining the Containment Zone), and the Buffer Zone (an area surrounding or adjoining the High-Risk Zone). The rules governing permitted deer movement are the most rigorous in the Containment Zone and become successively less rigorous as distance from where the disease was discovered increases. The comprehensive CWD management rules (to be contained in Chapter 65, Subchapter B, Division 2) previously referenced in this preamble impose increased CWD-testing requirements for breeder deer, Triple T trap sites, and DMP sites where breeder are introduced on a statewide basis, which makes the concept of the buffer zone superfluous.
The proposed amendment to §65.82, concerning High-Risk Zones; Restrictions, would change the title of the section to Surveillance Zones: Restrictions, as previously noted in this preamble, shrink the current zone in effect for far west Texas, create two new zones (one to address the additional CWD discovery in the Texas Panhandle and one to address the discovery of CWD in deer breeding facilities in Medina County), and allow the permitted movement of deer within a SZ under certain circumstances. A Surveillance Zone (SZ) is a geographic area within which the department has determined, using the best available science and data, that the presence of CWD could reasonably be expected. With respect to proposed new paragraph (1)(C), the department is creating a Surveillance Zone in portions of Bandera, Medina, and Uvalde counties, but not a CZ. The reason for not creating a CZ is two-fold. First, the CWD discovery in this part of the state occurred in breeder deer and deer breeding facilities, which are required by law to be designed and built to both prevent the free movement of deer and contact with free-ranging deer, which coincidentally is imperative for the control and management of CWD. Second, the facilities where CWD was discovered are operating under TAHC herd plans, which restrict deer movement and require CWD testing at an equal or higher level to what is required in a CZ.
Under the current provisions of §65.82, the permitted movement of deer was restricted to breeder deer being transferred to or from a deer breeding facility that had achieved “Certified” status in the TAHC Herd Certification Program. With the adoption of the comprehensive CWD management rules alluded to earlier in this preamble, the testing, TAHC herd status, and herd inventory requirements of current §65.82 with respect to breeder deer are no longer necessary in §65.82; however, because the comprehensive CWD management rules create a classification system that identifies breeding facilities and prospective DMP and Triple T trap sites that are epidemiologically determined to present limited risk of CWD transfer, the proposed amendment would add new subparagraphs (B)-(D) to paragraph (2) to address that fact and prescribe the criteria under which those activities would be allowed.
(e) The skinned or unskinned head of a susceptible species from a CZ or SZ, other state, Canadian province, or other place outside of Texas where CWD has been detected in free-ranging or captive herds may be transported to a taxidermist for taxidermy purposes, provided all brain material, soft tissue, spinal column and any unused portions of the head are disposed of in a landfill in Texas permitted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
http://tpwd.texas.gov/business/feedback/meetings/2016/0825/agenda/item_03/index.phtml
TPWD Action Disease Detection and Response – Chronic Wasting Disease August 25, 2016 Catering to the Industry
http://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/multimedia/media/commission_20160824/20160824_com_00_work_session.mp3
http://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/multimedia/media/commission_20160824/20160824_com_01_annual_public_hearing.mp3
Wednesday, August 24, 2016 9:00 a.m.
1.Update on Regulatory Litigation – Ann Bright (Executive Session Only) ◦Chronic Wasting Disease – Deer Breeder Litigation
http://tpwd.texas.gov/business/feedback/meetings/2016/0825/agenda/executive_session/index.phtml
http://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/media/Mule_Deer_CWD_All_Zones_2014.jpg
The proposed 400 square mile area is bounded by FM 462 from Tarpley to Hondo, west on Highway 90 to Sabinal and north to Utopia along Highway 83 and back to Tarpley on FM 470. CWD infecting deer has spread from the Four Corners area to New Mexico and isolated portions of Texas. The proposed Tarpley area Surveillance Zone (SZ) will add a surveillance area to the two Texas mandatory compliance-surveillance areas that already exist in the Trans Pecos area and the Panhandle.
This proposed zone will remain until the carcass tissue count reaches 1,749 tests and presenters encouraged early compliance from landowners and hunters. If the CWD samples are statistically negative, then the SZ will be removed. Among other issues, the proposed regulations concern the disposal of carcass “soft tissue,” which is key to containing the disease. Proposed CWD rules have been published by the TPWD at the tpwd.texas.gov/business/feedback/publiccomment. TPWD representatives introduced the proposed rules at a special meeting in Hondo on August 17 and will repeat the same information in Tarpley at 7 pm, Thursday, Sept. 15, in the old school house.
Chronic Wasting Disease is held in the soil for many years and is very difficult to eradicate. It affects cervids, including white-tail dear. This fatal neurological disease is spread via animal to animal or through contact with contaminated soil and vegetation. Additionally, there is some controversy that CWD might be transmissible to humans if infected deer meat is consumed. Most of the investigators deny that it is transmissible, but at the same time warn against eating the meat of a contaminated animal. CWD was first noted locally on a deer-breeding ranch on the boundary between Bandera and Medina Counties about six miles south of Tarpley. It has subsequently been found at two other ranches in northwest Medina County.
http://www.bccourier.com/Archives/News_detail.php?contentId=23628
Volume 41 Number 30 July 22, 2016 Pages 5277 – 5476
skip to PAGE 115;
CHAPTER 65. WILDLIFE SUBCHAPTER B. DISEASE DETECTION AND RESPONSE DIVISION 1. CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE (CWD) The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (the department) proposes the repeal of §65.83 and §65.88, amendments to §§65.80 -65.82 and 65.84 -65.86, and new §65.88 and §65.89, concerning Chronic Wasting Disease.
http://www.sos.state.tx.us/texreg/pdf/backview/0722/0722is.pdf
‘’VERY HOPEFUL ABOUT VOLUNTARY EFFORTS’’
good old boy system alive and well in Texas.
only fooling yourselves folks, only fooling yourselves. any voluntary efforts, just to cater to the industry, will only spread CWD TSE Prion, because the industry still does not get it. ...TSS
‘’The differences between samples, tonsil versus rectal lymphoid biopsies, is largely affected by two factors, the relative number of lymphoid follicles in each tissue (tonsil > rectal) ***and the skill of the person taking the biopsy.’’
*** I understand that the 84th Legislation might have made some terrible mistakes with regards to Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE Prion aka mad cow type disease, by weakening CWD rules for breeders.
*** Texas 84th Legislature 2015 H.R. No. 2597 Kuempel Deer Breeding Industry TAHC TPWD CWD TSE PRION
a review of sorts ;
http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2016/08/ceutzfeldt-jakob-disease-usa-2015.html