Press Releases
Kimberley Smith (301) 734-6464
Jerry Redding (202) 720-6959
USDA ISSUES PERMIT FOR CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE ANTIGEN TEST KIT
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2002—The U.S. Department of Agriculture
announced today that it has issued a U.S. veterinary biological permit
for distribution and sale to Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, Calif.,
to distribute an in vitro diagnostic test kit intended to aid in the
diagnosis of chronic wasting disease in mule deer.
The approved CWD antigen test kit, is an enzyme-linked test for the
detection of the abnormal prion protein associated with CWD. The product
has been approved for testing of specified lymph nodes of wild mule
deer populations for surveillance purposes only.
Distribution and use of this product in the United States shall be
under the supervision or control of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service's veterinary services staff. Distribution in each state shall
be limited to authorized recipients designated by proper state officials,
under such additional conditions as these authorities may require.
APHIS' Center for Veterinary Biologics issues permits to allow the
importation of veterinary biological products into the United States.
Veterinary biological products include test kits intended for use in
the diagnosis of diseases of animals. A permit to import for distribution
and sale is not issued unless the conditions and methods used to prepare
the biological product have been evaluated to ensure the product is
not worthless, contaminated, dangerous or harmful.
CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of deer and elk. The
disease was first recognized as a clinical wasting syndrome of mule
deer in 1967, and was identified as a TSE in 1978. There is no known
relationship between CWD and any other TSE of animals or people. CWD
has been found in farmed and/or free-ranging deer and/or elk in several
states, including Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New
Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
In September 2001, APHIS began a CWD surveillance, depopulation and
indemnity program for affected farmed elk populations. In May 2002,
the USDA and the U.S. Department of the Interior formed a CWD joint
working group to ensure a coordinated and cooperative federal approach
to assist states with CWD response efforts.
Recently, APHIS increased both its surveillance capacity and the number
of laboratories certified to test for CWD on an annual basis. APHIS
now has a total of 15 contract laboratories on line as part of its National
Animal Health Laboratory Network to assist the National Veterinary Services
Laboratories in testing for CWD.
Research and development of a vaccine for CWD is on the horizon at
APHIS' Wildlife Services National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins,
Colo. Such a vaccine would expand the list of current options for managing
the disease in both captive and free-ranging deer and elk.
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