New Chronic Wasting Disease Test Not All It’s Being Promoted As

Earlier this month in a story about groups suing to stop the feeding of wild elk at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyoming, I also reported that the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Colorado State University researchers say they have developed a test for chronic wasting disease that can be done on live animals. This is a test of rectal tissues of live animals that can yield promising results on detecting CWD. It seems that the report I read wasn’t completely forthcoming on more specific details of the test. Whether intentional or not, I have no idea.

Rich Forrest of the Chronic Wasting Disease Foundation at www.stopcwd.org, has sent out a memo to interested parties expressing his concerns about the report and further explaining more details about the test.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE

I am concerned that the impression (is being created) that this new rectal test will be a panacea for cervid farmers. Basically, the one test that will allow animal movements everywhere. NOT SO. THIS IS NOT THE LIVE TEST THAT WE CERVID FARMERS NEED, yes, this is a live test, but of rectal lymph tissue which ONLY registers the disease at the same stage as a brain test. ONLY AN ANIMAL IN THE LAST STAGES OF THE DISEASE SHOW UP POSITIVE. and for that it is good, better and perhaps easier than killing them and taking the brain. BUT if positive, the animal is already on its way to being dead and is already shedding the disease to the environment and to other critters, so basically it’s negative herdmates are still terminal. Even a whole herd negative test is not conclusive. This test cannot find early stage infections. EARLY stage disease does not have readily detectable abnormal prions, hence one can have an infected herd and NOT SHOW a positive! NO GOVT AGENCY WILL CLEAR A NEGATIVE FOR TRANSPORT IF THEY STILL SUSPECT POTENTIAL DISEASE NEARBY. Even a healthy herd under a sphere of influence CWD quarantine will likely remain quarantined even with a whole herd negative! The problem lies with the test relying on finding abnormal prions and ( I believe) the erroneous thinking that they cause the disease. In my humble opinion (generally ignored by govt research funding agencies) is that they are finding a late stage symptom of the disease NOT THE CAUSE. Only in the last half of the disease are these prions present in sufficient numbers to be found. They NEED TO FIND THE REAL CAUSE, then a test could find it at an early stage. Should NADEFA require a greater explanation please feel free to contact.me

Rich Forrest
THE CWD FOUNDATION
www.stopcwd.org

I for one upon reading the report about the test, was lead to believe this was an early stage test. Perhaps I should have done a better job at researching about this test before reporting on it.

Needless to say, this is still a better test than having to kill an animal to do it and we can hope that this is also another step toward the eventual cure we are all looking for.

Forrest mentions in his memo that he believes the detection of abnormal prions is only a symptom of the disease and not the cause. He may be right. For those interested, you can visit the website at www.stopcwd.org and Forrest has many studies you can read about the disease and his theories on causes and transmission.

My concerns, which are the same as thousands of others, is that many times government funded research may be more interested in finding ways to continue the inflow of money rather than working more fervently to find a cure. We should all be asking if these research facilities are moving in other directions looking for cause as Forrest suggests.

Tom Remington