SHARPSBURG -- Chronic wasting disease, a contagious neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer, could devastate local deer populations, and National Park Service officials want to be prepared if the disease makes its way inside the boundaries of Monocacy and Antietam national battlefields.Park officials presented options at a public meeting Wednesday night at Antietam National Battlefield, and will do the same tonight at Monocacy.
Monocacy National Battlefield has 155 deer per square mile, over a total of 2.12 square miles. Deer hunting is not allowed in either Monocacy or Antietam.
"Our goal is to preserve the natural resources," said Andrew Banasik, natural resources manager at Monocacy. "The focus of this is disease response only."
Chronic wasting disease is in the same family as mad cow disease, according to National Park Service veterinarian Jenny Powers, who spoke at the public meeting. So far, there has been no trace of the disease in human or domestic animal populations. In the deer population, however, she said, "It has the potential for causing large-scale die-offs."
Deer lose weight, experience excessive thirst and salivation when they contract chronic wasting disease, which is always fatal. The disease spreads through direct contact or environmental contamination.
Chronic wasting disease was noted nearby in three deer in Hampshire County, W.Va., about 60 miles west of Monocacy, in May 2007. More cases have been found in West Virginia but there have been none in Maryland.
Antietam has 110 deer per square mile over the park's 3 square miles. The two parks are similar in that both have lots of farm fields with some forested areas and cover. The habitat is ideal for deer, and predators are rare. Monocacy's deer population is likely more dense because of development outside the park's boundaries, Banasik said.
Ed Wenschhof, natural resources specialist at Antietam, said the carcasses of 29 deer struck by vehicles along Md. 64 and Md. 34 near Antietam have been examined for chronic wasting disease, and all have been negative.
If a positive case is found, park officials have several options.
One is to monitor with no additional action. Other options call for 36 to 83 deer to be killed at Monocacy, and 32 to 110 deer at Antietam, if officials are confident that the disease exists in the park.
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