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A year after a deadly and highly contagious wildlife disease surfaced in Norway, the country is taking action. Chronic wasting disease (CWD), caused by misfolded proteins called prions, has already ravaged deer and elk in North America, costing rural economies millions in lost revenue from hunting. Its presence in Norway's reindeer and moose—the first cases in Europe—is "a very serious situation for the environment and for our culture and traditions," says Bjørnar Ytrehus, a veterinary researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research in Trondheim.
Last week, Norway's minister of agriculture and food gave the green light for hunters to kill off the entire herd in which three infected individuals were found, about 2000 reindeer, or nearly 6% of the country's wild population. "We have to take action now," says Karen Johanne Baalsrud, director of plant and animal health at the Norwegian Food Safety Authority in Oslo. The deer's habitat will be quarantined for at least 5 years to prevent reinfection. The odds of a successful eradication, experts say, will depend largely on how long CWD has been present in Norway.
(Score: 2) by Kromagv0 on Wednesday April 05 2017, @01:09PM
feeding stations and salt licks are hot spots of infection.
Now that it is established there this is the key to remember. Apart from killing the herd that is currently infected people need to quit making giant piles of bait and food for the critters. I don't know what Norway's rules are on feeding wildlife and baiting game are but hopefully they don't or shortly won't include these activities.
As far as where did it come from I would bet some infected cattle, sheep, goats, or possibly elk from a commercial farm somewhere and the patient 0 there may have come from the US or through some other country. The reindeer probably initially got infected eating at a food trough on that farm as that seems to be the common way it happens where I am.
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