Envioromental news

[Neil D]

By Alan Kozlowski

There is some serious news in New York State on white-tail deer. Considering the gravity of the situation, I have restated much of this from the Department of Environmental Conservation press release.

The first positive case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) was found in Central New York. Mandatory testing protocols found a CWD-positive doe at a deer farm. CWD is a transmissible disease that affects the brain and central nervous system of deer and elk. There is no evidence that CWD is linked to disease in humans or domestic livestock, other than deer and elk. However it spreads relentlessly in deer.

The animal that tested positive for CWD was a six-year old white-tailed doe that was slaughtered from a captive herd in Oneida County as part of the state's mandatory CWD surveillance and testing protocols.

Preliminary tests performed at the New York State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Cornell University determined the presumptive positive, which was confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.

The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets has officially quarantined the index herd in which the positive deer was found, and will depopulate and test all deer on the premises. Other herds associated with the index herd have also been quarantined and an investigation has been initiated to find and test any susceptible deer that came into contact with the index herd, and to assess the health and environmental risks associated with such establishments.

The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will conduct intensive monitoring of the wild deer population surrounding the index herd to ensure CWD has not spread to wild deer. In areas out west where CWD was found to have spread to wild deer, all deer in several-mile square areas were systematically exterminated.

CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) of deer and elk An enormous threat to white-tail deer

[Neil D]

Here is something that non-beekeepers might need to see.

Bee mite endangers crops

FWIW, some hives in california are commanding $100 per hive for almond pollenation. Beekeepers were asking for $35 per hive in years past. The need is so great, that there are hives from Florida being imported to california for pollenation.

[Ron Lambert]

Many of the foods we eat depend upon bees for pollination. If the bees are gone, we starve.

As for the Chronic Wasting Disease among deer, many diseases affecting deer (such as tuberculosis) are spread to cows and horses, as deer frequently drink out of the same watering troughs used by cows and horses. As if mad cow disease were not enough of a threat, here is another one just as deadly. Sooner or later, such diseass are going to break the bounds, and spread wildly, unstoppably, among all our food animals. It hasn't happened yet only because the angels of God are still holding back this wind of strife. But soon they will let go, as the wickedness of man increases, and his rebellion against the authority of the Creator becomes more open and official.