[Mike]

Can anyone say “Dead Elk” in Whyoming?
Posted by Rocky on pac-pc@yahoogroups.com
http://www.rense.com/general61/crsh.htm

Note: forwarded message attached.

Sun Jan 2, 2005 2:09 pm
http://www.rense.com/general61/crsh.htm

America’s Foremost CWD
Expert Killed In Crash
By Mead Gruver
The Billings Gazette
1-1-5

Husband-and-wife wildlife veterinarians who were
nationally prominent experts on chronic wasting
disease and brucellosis were killed in a snowy-weather
crash on U.S. 287 in northern Colorado, authorities
confirmed Thursday.

Drs. Tom Thorne and Beth Williams, both of rural
Albany County, Wyoming, died when their pickup truck
hit a jackknifed trailer Wednesday night, according to
the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and Colorado
Highway Patrol.

Williams, 53, had taught at the University of Wyoming
since 1982 and was also familiar with wildlife
diseases. “She was probably the foremost chronic
wasting disease expert in the country,” Game and Fish
spokesman Al Langston said.

Thorne, 63, was acting director of the Wyoming Game
and Fish Department for 9 months in 2002 and 2003. He
worked in the department for 35 years before retiring
in 2003 and was a prominent researcher of chronic
wasting disease in deer and elk, as well as of
brucellosis in bison and elk.

The accident happened around 10 p.m. on snow-packed
pavement near Virginia Dale a few miles south of the
Wyoming line, according to Colorado State Trooper
Scott Boskovich. Both vehicles had been going at least
10 mph below the speed limit. After spinning out of
control and coming to a stop in the northbound lanes,
the trailer was struck by Williams’ and Thorne’s 2002
Ford pickup, which was wedged underneath, according to
Master Trooper Ron Watkins. The rig driver, Bruce
Gustin, 45, of Divide, Colo., was unhurt.

Neither drug nor alcohol use was suspected. Tom
Buchanan, vice president for academic affairs at the
University of Wyoming, said he was saddened to hear of
the deaths. “She will be missed by her colleagues, her
students, and her friends, who include everyone who
cares about wildlife and ranching in the Rocky
Mountain West,” he said of Williams in a prepared
statement.

Williams earned a bachelor’s in zoology from the
University of Maryland-College Park, followed by a
doctorate of veterinary medicine from Purdue in 1977
and a doctorate in veterinary pathology from Colorado
State University in 1981. She earned several honors
during her 22 years at the University of Wyoming,
including the Wildlife Disease Association’s
Distinguished Service Award in 1996 and, in 1999, the
Wyoming Game Warden Association’s award for
outstanding assistance to wildlife law enforcement.

Thorne was one of 3 finalists for Game and Fish
director in 2003. Previously he was assistant chief
and chief of the department’s Services Division, and
branch chief of the state’s Wildlife Veterinary
Research Services. Over the years he was also vice
president of the Wildlife Disease Association,
chairman of the Advisory Council for the American
Association of Wildlife Veterinarians, and chairman of
the U.S. Health Association’s Wildlife Diseases
Committee.

He held a bachelor’s degree in zoology and doctorate
in veterinary medicine from Oklahoma State University.
Chronic wasting disease is similar to mad cow disease,
causing brain wasting and eventually death. It emerged
in Colorado and Wyoming more than 30 years ago and has
been found in recent years as far away as Minnesota
and Wisconsin. Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that
can cause cattle to abort their calves. It is common
in elk and bison in northwest Wyoming and Yellowstone
National Park. Brucellosis also has been detected in a
handful of cattle herds in Wyoming over the past year,
causing the state to lose its federal status as a
brucellosis-free state.

ProMED-mail promed@…

Tom and Beth were wonderful colleagues and tremendous,
insightful researchers who followed science, not
allowing personal bias to affect their work. This is
indeed sad news, and many of us will miss them, but
the causes they championed and those who have
benefited from their research will miss them even
more. – Mod.TG….tg/pg/lm

Patricia A. Doyle, PhD Please visit my “Emerging
Diseases” message board at:
http://www.clickitnews.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=emergingdiseases
Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa Go with God and in Good
Health