Dear Nevada Hunter:

As you may have become aware, the Nevada Division of Wildlife (NDOW) is conducting a statewide effort to determine if chronic wasting disease (CWD) is affecting the mule deer and elk populations in our state. This disease, which debilitates the motor skills and behavior of infected animals, is known to occur in a small percentage of deer and elk in Wyoming and Colorado and in captive herds of some Midwestern states. You may recall this being a media topic last October.

Presently, biologists and veterinarians have not documented the occurrence of CWD in Nevada. NDOW has established the goal of collecting a statistically significant number of brain tissue samples from hunter-killed deer throughout the state. The samples will be tested by experts with the Division of Agriculture. NDOW anticipates that all samples will test negative for the presence of this disease and the public can be assured that their deer and elk herds are not affected by the disease.

During the last hunting season, NDOW personnel collected 94 brain tissue samples from hunter-killed deer and elk and road mortalities. NDOW will be gathering additional samples this year. You may be contacted by one of our biologists or wardens in the field or you may receive notification about one of our check stations. Viable samples can be collected from deer that are no younger than 18 months and have been dead less than 12 hours. Sometimes samples will remain viable longer if the air temperature has been cold. Trained NDOW personnel will collect brain samples from candidate animals and we will not require or request you to collect these samples for us.

There is no experimental or epidemiological evident that CWD can be transmitted to livestock or humans. However, the similarities of CWD and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, dubbed "mad cow disease" by the British press, have resulted in studies to determine if, under the right circumstances, transmission could occur.

Again, we stress that there is no reason to believe CWD is present in Nevada, but we do suggest the following precautions at least until a sufficient number of samples have been collected and analyzed.

1-Refrain from shooting deer or elk that exhibit abnormal behavior or act sick. If you witness such behavior, please report the location of the observation to your nearest NDOW office.

2-Wear protective latex or rubber gloves when you field dress your animal.

3-Minimize, or avoid altogether, contact with the brain or spinal cord of your animal. If you do contact the brain, as in the removal of antlers and skull cap, clean hands and cutting tools well.

4-Do not eat deer or elk brains or spinal cord.