Iowa wildlife experts are on watch after six cases of a disease that kills deer were confirmed last week in western Nebraska. Dale Garner, a disease specialist with the Iowa D-N-R wildlife bureau, says they’ve been aware of “chronic wasting disease” for some time.There are -no- known cases of that disease in Iowa and Garner says they hope to keep it that way. He says Iowa farmers and hunters shouldn’t have anything to worry about, but there is an automatic fear, since this is basically a deer form of “mad cow disease.”While six cases of chronic wasting disease were confirmed last week in Nebraska, cases have also been confirmed in Colorado and Wyoming. The C-D-C says chronic wasting disease only effects elk and deer and can’t be transmitted to any other wild animals, livestock — or to humans.New Iowa rules more carefully regulate all deer that are brought into the state for “shooting preserves” where hunters pay to hunt in a more controlled environment. There are more than 50 such preserves in the state, but most are for pheasant and quail. Garner says only about five are specifically for deer.
