Spinning Animal Disease For Political Gain
Posted by Tom Remington on February 12, 2008
It is a real shame that we as a society have come to the point where we perceive lying as a good thing, something that we use as a tool to see a result. In other words, the end justifies the means.
Dr. Gail Saltz says we begin learning to lie at about age 4 or 5. We discover that lying gives us power in the selection of our words. Adults lie for various reasons but an interesting point that Saltz makes is the expectations of our society and who we might expect to lie and who we hold to a higher standard.
We expect, for example, less honesty from politicians than from scientists. We have a vision of purity about those who are doing research, while we imagine that politicians will at least shade the truth about themselves in order to get elected.
I think Saltz, if given the time, would also add to that politicians’ list the need to lie in order promote political agendas and achieve personal gain.
Animal disease is a great tool to manipulate public opinion. The reason is simple really. People don’t like disease and often it is feared and if presented to the masses of people in a particular way could incite riots. Obviously there are times when people need to be made very much aware of the dangers concerning disease and animals, especially if it is animals we eat. We want to know about beef recalls and things like mad cow disease, etc..
One disease that many people don’t know about that occurs in wild animals such as deer, elk and moose is chronic wasting disease. The truth is very few people know anything about it. Those who do are more than likely hunters and ranchers, along with wildlife biologists and a few politicians who might see an opportunity to use the disease for political gain.
Using disease to instill fear in people in order to achieve agendas of politics and/or personal goals is a lousy thing to do. Unfortunately, politics is a dirty profession and as Dr. Saltz says, we as a society expect nothing better from the likes of such politicians. I suppose this is why they do it a lot and are good at it.
Three states that I am aware of are in the midst of debates about the relationship with disease and the domestic cervid industry - cervid in these cases meaning deer and elk. Those three states are Idaho, North Dakota and Oregon. There may be more. Certain groups or individuals want to shut down these industries for various reasons but all of them like to throw out the fears of disease tactic.
Chronic wasting disease is only one of them and I’d like to give you an example of how this is done by a politician. Sen. David Langhorst of Idaho has been on a campaign for some time to rid the state of Idaho of the domestic elk industry. Over the past couple of years he has resorted to varying degrees of assorted reasons why there shouldn’t be domestic elk in Idaho. He’s tried taking off large chunks in efforts to end it all immediately to settling more for the incremental approach, much the same way as the groups like PETA and the Humane Society of the United States have done.
Mr. Langhorst has taken up blogging, I suppose for much the same reasons that I do, to provide a platform where people can come and read about issues and discuss them. Lanhort’s blog can be found on the Idaho Statesman’s website.
A few days ago, he posted a blog called, “Elk for Sale” and has garnered some debate and comments from an array of readers.
The post was a great fiction piece in which he attempts to scare readers into painting a picture of what it is like in Idaho on these elk ranches he so despises. But it is later on down in the comment sections when he begins presenting more, what he calls, facts. He even titles it, “Elk Farm Diseases: True or False?”
I don’t have time right now to go through everyone of his claims of facts so, I will address only his presentation of facts about chronic wasting disease in an attempt to inform readers of the truth about the disease.
The first documented case of CWD was in a confined deer pen in Ft. Collins, CO. (true; there is speculation that the facility had previously held sheep infected with scrapie, a CWD-like disease)
Some of those deer were let loose, for whatever reason. (true)
The first known area of widespread CWD in wild deer and elk was in the area around Ft. Collins. (true)
CWD continues to spread outward from that area, infecting the Wyoming/Colorado/Nebraska deer and elk herds. (true; this is why some claim that wild elk are more likely to bring disease to Idaho.)
In the 1990s, Colorado game farms shipped elk infected with CWD to other states, where CWD was consequently found in game farms. (true)
As of 2007, all states where CWD had been found in wild animals also had game farms (true)
As of 2007, there were three states where CWD was documented in game farm animals and NOT yet found in wild game (MN, OK, KY) (true)
If I may be bold enough to clarify some of Mr. Langhorst’s claims of fact.
In 1967 a wasting syndrome was first recognized in mule deer in a research laboratory near Ft. Collins, Colorado. It wasn’t until 1978 that scientists (Dr. Beth Williams) actually recognized this syndrome as a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE).
As it is written in most every scientific writing about the origins of CWD, it is not documented nor confirmed where CWD comes from. Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance states that, “modeling suggests the disease may have been present in free-ranging populations of mule deer for more than 40 years.” They further go on to explain that CWD is just as likely to be a spontaneous event that could have happened in the wild or in captivity.
It may be possible that CWD is a spontaneous TSE that arose in deer in the wild or in captivity and has biological features promoting transmission to other deer and elk.
Dr. Trent Bollinger describes the origins of CWD in this fashion.
Where or how CWD originated is not known. One explanation is that CWD is actually sheep scrapie occurring in cervids. It could also have originated from a prion disease in another species which has not yet been discovered. Alternatively, the disease may have developed independently in cervids with spontaneous converison PrP C to the resistant form and then subsequent spread to other individuals.
Langhorst alludes to the idea that infected sheep may have been the carriers of TSE in scrapie but once again science does not clearly support that theory. They are not even sure that the TSE can be passed back and forth.
It should be pointed out that the reason the disease was discovered in this lab was because of research. The disease wasn’t even heard of by this time. It wasn’t as though scientists were testing wild and domestic deer for a disease they hadn’t heard of yet. Where would be a likely place to first discover such a disease? As with most diseases, in a lab.
The area around Ft. Collins and in northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming became known as the “CWD endemic area”. I have no record of the deer within this one facility being released. Official records have stated that they do not know whether the disease, which by the way occurs naturally, was already present in free ranging wild populations of mule deer. Scientific models done in 2000 indicate that CWD was prevalent in the wild for at least 30 years.
While it is true that there has been some spreading of the disease “naturally” outside the “CWD endemic area”, scientists say that this is insignificant. Scientists once again speculate that they believe most of the cases of CWD showing up far from the “CWD endemic area” came from uncontrolled, unregulated shipments of diseased animals.
However, wildlife surveillance begun in earnest in 1997 by wildlife agencies led to detection of CWD outside of the historic endemic area.
Langhorst doesn’t provide any links to substantiate his claims so it is difficult to know exactly of what he is writing and when. Documented history shows that the first recorded event of CWD found in domestic elk occurred in 1997 in South Dakota. Surveillance has indicated that diseased elk were shipped from South Dakota to Saskatchewan. It was after the South Dakota event that CWD was found in farmed elk in Colorado.
People should be made aware that during this time, little was known about CWD and therefore it took some time before it was discovered that diseased animals were being shipped across the country and the impact the disease can have on wild and domestic ungulates.
Mr. Langhorst tosses out claims of which states have CWD and which states have elk ranches etc., which provides for some wild speculation but it still proves nothing from a scientific perspective. Science says that they probably will never know the origins of the disease. They have yet to fully understand the complexities of how the disease is passed from one animal to another.
It is easy to sit here and say that all states that have elk farms also have CWD, which is only an attempt to convince readers that elk farms are the origin of the disease and the cause of the spread and that simply is not true. It is quite unfair to force one’s speculation on others as facts.
If Mr. Langhorst had chosen to be completely forthcoming in his facts, he would have also explained to readers that in some of the states he claims that have documented cases of CWD in elk ranches, they don’t test any of the wild ungulates for disease and those that do are often times are sparsely done.
As with all livestock programs, when diseases are recognized, efforts are put forth to understand, diagnose and deal with it to limit or halt the spread. This was successfully done in the Saskatchewan elk industry. With continued improvements to testing and further studies to help scientists understand how the disease is spread and how to stop it, there is hope for a good clean industry.
As states, such as Idaho, that have a great track record in keeping their industry free of CWD, it shows how a livestock industry can continue to grow and flourish and there’s no need to try to scare the people into believing things that simply aren’t true.
Tom Remington
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“The truth is very few people know anything about it.”
There’s a fact.
Here’s a few more.
NO ONE knows how it is spread.
NO ONE can tell if a living animal is infected or not.
NO ONE can cure it.
An infected animal is going to spread it further and faster traveling in the back of a truck from game farm to game farm than it will walking.
February 12th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Then why is it that TB and Brucellosis have ALREADY WALKED across the border into Idaho in the form of wild cervids, not by truck and trailer; oh, except for the truck load of WILD elk brought in from WY BY FISH AND GAME that had tested positive for brucellosis… http://www.trib.com/articles/2008/01/31/news/wyoming/a3f1c10efbed15c9872573e10005d5f8.txt
February 12th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
CWD - Keeping it in Perspective
How is it spread?
While it’s not known exactly how CWD is spread, it is believed that the agent responsible for the disease may be spread both directly (animal to animal) or indirectly (soil or other surface to animal) most likely through the saliva and feces of infected animals.
How can I tell if a deer has CWD?
Infected animals may not show symptoms in the early stages. However, as the disease progresses, infected animals begin to lose body functions and display abnormal behaviors, such as staggering or standing with poor posture. Animals may display an exaggerated wide stance or carry their head and ears lowered. Infected animals become emaciated and appears in poor condition, often drooling excessively.
Where has it been found?
Colorado, Illinois, Kansas New Mexico, New Your, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wyoming, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
If you harvest big game (Deer or Elk) from these areas and are returning to a state that does not currently have CWD. PLEASE!! check with your local game commissions before bringing any parts of the animal into your state. Much is known about CWD, but much more has to be learned. Stop supplemental feeding programs because any concentration of deer or elk assists in the spread of diseases.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Now about lying, I was told you needed a real good memory not to get caught in one. So at age 5 not having such an advanced memory Mom decided It would be better to give me a mouth full of Hot Peppers just so I’d remember what lying was. Soap was for the curse words. Forget steeling it was not worth the beating.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
I think Jack’s point is accurate that CWD and any other disease will spread faster by truck regardless of where it originates and in the beginning, this may be one of the reasons CWD showed in other areas far from the “CWD endemic areas”.
Now with stricter restrictions and guidelines for importing and exporting animals, it will help.
Hunters need also do their part to obey the laws for importing dead animals across state lines.
It is unconscionable the Idaho F&G would knowingly bring diseased elk into the state. Idiots!
February 13th, 2008 at 9:43 am
A great article. While political lying is all to common place, one cannot eliminate scientific lying or at the very least misleading statements provided by scientific personnel or institutions. The power of money can taint even our highest institutions, some that would rather conform to politically-correct theories than truly pursue the truth.
While abnormal prions are the supposed cause of TSE (Mad-cow type) diseases, there is a decided lack of substantiation that the prions themselves do anything except for being present in diseased animals. Personally, I find sufficient scientific literature to indicate that prions are simply a symptom of the disease rather than the cause of it, hence the inability of testing methods to find the disease until it has developed after many months of incubation. Could it be that grant money (and subsequent medical research publications)usually goes to the parties scaring the public most? Each working on the politically-correct diseases and theories of the day, to insure funding? So what is worse (and likely to get more funding), a plain Jane run-of-the-mill bacterial disease, or an alien, brain-twisting MAD disease that is 100% fatal, with no cure, unable to be destroyed by fire or sterilization, lives decades in the dirt, can’t be detected and the carriers are all “typhoid mary’s”, causing infection without being detected. Well, you got it! The scary one! Problem is, not all that information is true nor even reliably indicated.
The premise that the disease can move faster by human transport is obviously true, whether that be a virus carried by passengers on a plane or animals carrying TB in a truck. The key is having disease regulation and surveillance in place. For TB, Brucellosis and CWD, these testing and death surveillance programs are in place limiting domestic farm animal disease transport. Not so for wild animal migrations, nor the government movement of wildlife, which includes wild animal carcasses transported cross country by private citizens bringing disease with them. New York and West Virginia CWD comes to mind here. One can not eliminate research programs either. Why is it that CWD has a hot spot 20 to 40 miles west of Madison WI, home of the U of WI which conducted CWD research in the 1980’s? Deer brain samples from Colorado were used at the University, coincidence or not?
And lastly lets examine Colorado CWD. Hmmm, the disease has estimated to have been present in the wild for 30 or 40 years. Hmmm, it’s symptoms were documented in the CO Division of Wildlife’s and the Colorado State University, Ft Collins research pens in the 1960’s and some of those animals escaped, or returned to the wild, or were sold to zoos, including the Denver Zoo. Hmmm, that was over 40 years ago! Hmmm, South Dakota game farmers bought deer from the Denver zoo in the 1970’s, coincidence or not?
Political lying is certainly an obvious bugaboo, but easy to recognize and counter act. But perhaps scientific lying for monetary and professional gain is an even more insidious and dangerous practice, one that is putting all of us at risk.
February 13th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
“….(CWD) symptoms were documented in the CO Division of Wildlife’s and the Colorado State University, Ft Collins research pens in the 1960’s and some of those animals escaped, or returned to the wild, or were sold to zoos, including the Denver Zoo. Hmmm, that was over 40 years ago!” This is the info I had recalled something about but couldn’t recall exactly, thanks Rich!!! I remember reading this stuff a while ago and always wonder why people say it originated in CO on a GAME farm when it was found in a university study this way.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Rich - Thanks for the response and you bring up an excellent point - one I didn’t get to in my article but one that we must all be made aware of.
As I pointed out in the article, Dr. Saltz says we hold scientists at a higher level of expectations when it comes to lying. Does this mean though that we are more readily willing to believe what they say simply because they are scientists?
February 14th, 2008 at 9:09 am
At a CWD symposium in 2003, Dr. Beth Williams was the keynote speaker. To start her power point presentation, she told the 150 invited guests and the press, that CWD was originated and spread by high fenced facilities. At the conclusion of her address, I was allowed a microphone and repeated her original statement ver batim. I then asked (for the sake of the press who never got it right) if the high fenced facilities she blamed were game farms or the high fenced facilities of the Colorado DOW at Ft. Collins, Kreming, Meeker, Colorado State University, and Sybil, Wyoming. She admitted on camera that she was referring to those research facilities, not game farms. I told her it was very important for the press to make it very clear in future presentations which was responsible. While she was alive, many wildlife agencies, universities and public officials believed Dr. Williams to be the ultimate authority on CWD. I appreciated her honesty in her answer that day as it clarifies who originated and spread the disease.
February 14th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
The symposium I referred to was at the University of
Wisconsin, Madison and presented by the Wisconsin DNR, Dept. of Ag, and the University. Two other professors speaking on different topics also retracted statements but only when I questioned them on the subjects. Dr. Judd Aiken stated that no professor had ever brought CWD samples into the state to do research on. Dr. Shull originally claimed that the IHC test (gold standard) was infallible and never had false negatives or positives. Both admitted their statements were not true when questioned.
February 14th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Wow! Great information there Joel! Thank you for sharing.
February 14th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
“As I pointed out in the article, Dr. Saltz says we hold scientists at a higher level of expectations when it comes to lying. Does this mean though that we are more readily willing to believe what they say simply because they are scientists?”
Hmmmm,
Logically, the average person IS more likely to believe something when said by a scientist, because no perceived bias is readily detectable. HOWEVER, bias does exist, and that does not make a statement true.
The scientific community has, by and large, remained a reputable community, but individual scientists can and are prone to the same vises found in politicians, greed and power, just not so obviously. AND that makes them more dangerous when they lie or mislead. They can be experts on undetectable BS because nobody can challenger them! I.E., When it comes to federal grant money the FED most certainly controls the thought-flow and the results, no different than the Tobacco companies and their paid scientists. Grant money generally goes to prion-oriented TSE researchers who keep regurgitating old “facts” which I believe are very suspect. Their results WILL reflect the current PC version of the disease, otherwise NO MORE GRANT MONEY FOR YOU! The federal admin cabal will see to that.
Any time big money is at stake (disease research IS big money, ask the pharma industry) selected individuals will surrender to PC attitudes and misleading information so as to keep there financial heads above water. Always appraise a scientist and his statements by a stick that not only measures the data, but the money behind him and structure to which he is bound. Publish or perish! is a common University declaration. Why is that? Publishing enhances prestige and PRESTIGE brings in donor money! MONEY, money money. Tis what makes the world go round.
February 14th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Rich,
When I asked Beth Williams what she thought of Dr. Bastian’s work with CWD and Spiroplasma Bacteria at Tulane University, I was shocked to hear her say she was unfamiliar with it. Too many people only looking a prions for over 40 years with no results and refusing to look anywhere else.
February 14th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
[...] Spinning Animal Disease For Political Gain It is a real shame that we as a society have come to the point where we perceive lying as a good thing, something that we use as a tool to see a result. In other words, the end justifies the means. Dr. Gail Saltz says we begin learning to lie at about age 4 or 5. We discover that lying gives us power in the selection of our words. Adults lie for various reasons but an interesting point that Saltz makes is the expectations of our society and who we might expect to lie and who we hold to a highe [...]
February 18th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
[...] Spinning Animal Disease For Political Gain It is a real shame that we as a society have come to the point where we perceive lying as a good thing, something that we use as a tool to see a result. In other words, the end justifies the means. Dr. Gail Saltz says we begin learning to lie at about age 4 or 5. We discover that lying gives us power in the selection of our words. Adults lie for various reasons but an interesting point that Saltz makes is the expectations of our society and who we might expect to lie and who we hold to a highe [...]
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:31 pm
When I clicked on News Saskatoon my McAfee Site Advisor glowed RED! Watch out for the LIE
March 2nd, 2008 at 3:07 pm
[...] Spinning Animal Disease For Political Gain It is a real shame that we as a society have come to the point where we perceive lying as a good thing, something that we use as a tool to see a result. In other words, the end justifies the means. Dr. Gail Saltz says we begin learning to lie at about age 4 or 5. We discover that lying gives us power in the selection of our words. Adults lie for various reasons but an interesting point that Saltz makes is the expectations of our society and who we might expect to lie and who we hold to a highe [...]
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:32 pm
You know, I have to tell you, I really enjoy this blog and the insight from everyone who participates. I find it to be refreshing and very informative. I wish there were more blogs like it. Anyway, I felt it was about time I posted, I’ve spent most of my time here just lurking and reading, but today for some reason I just felt compelled to say this.
Thank you and best regards!
The Satisfied Lurker…
====================================
http://www.ContentSpinnerPro.com/
March 23rd, 2008 at 7:38 am
[...] Spinning Animal Disease For Political Gain It is a real shame that we as a society have come to the point where we perceive lying as a good thing, something that we use as a tool to see a result. In other words, the end justifies the means. Dr. Gail Saltz says we begin learning to lie at about age 4 or 5. We discover that lying gives us power in the selection of our words. Adults lie for various reasons but an interesting point that Saltz makes is the expectations of our society and who we might expect to lie and who we hold to a highe [...]
April 18th, 2008 at 12:01 am
This reminds me of the supposed bark beetle invasion in Florida a number of years ago. Having grown up in rural piney woods Fla, I was real familiar with pine bark beetles and how they “finish off” diseased or weakened pine trees..and considering the drought we were in at the time, was not alarmed with seeing large areas of pine trees dying off..and being “finished off” by bark beetles. But the press sure scooped the story into another catagory of a catastropic invasion and plague, and were backed up back “reliable and authorative sources” of local and state government agencies.
I never could figure out whether or not they were just so dumb as to think that was the truth, or if they were just making a lot of money under the table, or both! Either way, just goes to show you what to think of so-called authorities..they are subject to mistakes and graft the same as anyone else….
I wonder if anyone has studied ear mites and ticks as being a culprit in CWD? I have remembered seeing dogs, cattle, and horses showing the same type of symptoms…but after being treated and the ticks and/or mites removed, they recovered! I wonder if they even bothered to try that instead of just destroying or studing the suspect animal? I believe that there was a toxin in the bites which led to paralysis, and eventual death, if untreated. Sometime scientists can be so dumb as to not see the truth right in front of them…Believe me, I know, I’ve worked with them!
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:27 am
Jes - If you haven’t been to Rich Forrest’s website - http://www.stopcwd.org/ - He talks about the very question you ask about mites and ticks, yet is seemingly ignored by mainstream science or should I say those being funded by government grants, etc.
How does that song go? “There are none so blind, as he who will not see.”
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:39 am