Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Wisconsin and Colorado will receive $6 million in federal aid to combat a fatal brain disease in deer and elk and other plant and animal threats.

The money — $3.5 million for Wisconsin and $2.5 million for Colorado — is part of more than $43 million in federal money the Agriculture Department is making available nationwide to protect food supplies.

While it is not specifically earmarked to fight chronic wasting disease, the additional funds for disease detection, response and tracking will help states whose deer and elk populations are at risk from the lethal ailment.

Chronic wasting disease is similar to mad cow disease in deer and elk herds. Infected animals become weak and develop brain lesions. It is always fatal, but is not believed to be transmissible outside of deer or elk.

The disease has been found in herds in Colorado, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, Oklahoma and South Dakota and parts of Canada.

Officials in Colorado and Wisconsin are particularly concerned that the disease could devastate their multimillion-dollar hunting industries.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott McCallum said much of that state's money will go for improvements at the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostics Laboratory, which is seeking certification to conduct tests for chronic wasting disease.

"CWD is a real threat to the health of our deer herd and our hunting heritage in Wisconsin," he said.

Eighteen deer killed in southwestern Wisconsin have tested positive for the disease, and state officials now want to kill all the estimated 15,000 deer in a 361-square-mile area to prevent it from spreading.

Sean Conway, spokesman for Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., said the Agriculture Department assistance is an important and timely first step in fighting wasting disease in Colorado.

Portions of the money also will be used for plant pest and disease detection.

Kansas, which has also identified cases of wasting disease in its captive deer and elk populations, will get $1.7 million.

The department also released $4.6 million in grants to Texas, $5 million to California and $2.3 million to Georgia on Friday for homeland security purposes. Another $23 million to other states was announced on Thursday.

June 1, 2002