Velvet Ridge Ranch's Mission
Help Save the Elk & Deer from CWD
The Velvet Ridge Ranch's purpose is to find an answer to Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). The primary research being performed is the investigation of a LIVE TEST and defining transmission of CWD. The Foundation is concurrently analyzing nutritional effects and looking into a carrier state in elk and deer. Our current study being done at the Velvet Ridge Ranch is to look for transmission between outside negative elk with current herd in the facility.
Secondly, we are researching if nose to nose or ground transmission spreads the disease with a control group on site that is separated from the intermingled herd. Killing of the prion protein through proper nutrition is the ultimate goal. Finally, looking for a cure will come from nutrition as well.
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a transmissible neurological disease of deer and elk that produces small lesions in brains of infected animals. It is characterized by loss of body condition, behavioral abnormalities and death. CWD is classified as a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE), and is similar to mad cow disease in cattle and scrapie in sheep.
