FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2002
Contact: Mark Anthony, ODA Communications, 614-752-9817

Ohio Bans Importation of Deer and Elk from Wisconsin

Precaution Will Help Prevent Spread of Chronic Wasting Disease

REYNOLDSBURG  -- The State of Ohio today announced new regulations to prohibit the importation of any deer, elk, and other cervids from Wisconsin into Ohio, a precautionary step to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) into wild and captive herds of animals in the deer family in the state. The regulations, issued by proclamation by Governor Bob Taft, take effect immediately. CWD was identified in wild deer in Wisconsin earlier this spring, the first time the disease has been reported east of the Mississippi River.

“We are taking this action to reduce the risk of exposing our deer and elk herds to this deadly disease,” said Ohio Agriculture Director Fred Dailey. “Ohio is home to a large and healthy white-tailed deer population in the wild and a growing number of deer and elk farms. We will continue to work with appropriate state and federal agencies to develop strategies to protect both wild and captive herds from this disease.”

Although CWD is a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE), a category of fatal neurological animal diseases that also includes bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or “mad cow disease,” there are no known cases of CWD causing human illness, Dailey noted. 

The import prohibition covers cervids that have been a part of a Wisconsin herd in the last six years. Meanwhile, the state agriculture department is drafting an additional administrative rule to ensure all cervids imported from any state into Ohio are certified to be from CWD-free herds. That rule will be submitted soon to the Joint Committee for Agency Rule Review for approval.   

The Wisconsin cervid import prohibition was issued under a section of state law, ORC 941.10 (B), that allows the Governor, acting on information from the state agriculture director, to restrict the importation of any animal from another state that may carry a disease that could endanger the health of animals in Ohio.

The new regulatory actions supplement a long-standing state requirement that all livestock, including captive deer and elk, brought into Ohio have a certificate of veterinary inspection to make sure they are disease-free. The state agriculture department monitors the health and movement of all livestock in Ohio, including captive deer and elk, for the presence of infectious livestock diseases.

For additional information on chronic wasting disease or the regulatory restrictions on importation of deer and elk, contact the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Division of Animal Industry at 1-800-282-1955.

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