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St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Lee Enterprises

Thursday, May 21, 2009 10:27 PM CDT
Exotic lice discovered on Wyoming deer

BOB MOEN, Associated Press Writer

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The state Game and Fish Department is reporting the first case of a non-native lice species being found on Wyoming wildlife.

“The wildlife having a disease is not an unknown occurrence, it happens every day,” Game and Fish spokesman Bob Lanka said Tuesday. “This is different because this is a species that’s not native to North America, certainly not native to Wyoming, that we found in our state.“

Biovicola tibialis, an exotic louse found on deer in Europe and the Middle East, was found on an adult mule deer in the Saratoga area. The deer was killed and studied by game managers in early April. The deer had severe hair loss, skin inflammation and heavy infestation of chewing lice.

The National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Iowa confirmed the deer was infested with the exotic lice.

Chief Game Warden Jay Lawson said in a statement that mule deer are a “high priority species in Wyoming.“

“The fact that we found this louse is disappointing and yet another blow to mule deer in Wyoming,” Lawson said.

Scientists believe a foreign fallow deer brought to the United States years ago carried the exotic lice. The lice species was first identified in deer in Washington state in 2005. It has been found in about half a dozen states.

Researchers in Washington and Oregon say young deer and deer with pre-existing health conditions appear most susceptible to the foreign louse, Lanka said. The researchers in Washington say the louse does not affect humans or domestic livestock, he said.

Todd Cornish, a University of Wyoming veterinary pathologist, said Washington and Oregon report the louse has claimed “significant” numbers of fawns in those states.

“What has most people concerned is it has the potential to be a big deal, we don’t know whether it will turn out to be that way or not,” Cornish said. “This louse certainly has an effect on deer populations in the Northwest, in Washington and in Oregon.“

Lanka said the Game and Fish Department is on the lookout for any more evidence of the louse.

In addition, the agency is asking anyone to report any wildlife that appear sick or having abnormal hair loss.

Despite the discovery, Lanka said the situation underscores the wisdom of a decision nearly 20 years by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to deny importation of exotic wildlife for a game farm.

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