CODE BLUE IS A PROUD MEMBER OF THE RESPONSIBLE HUNTING SCENT ASSOCIATION’S DEER PROTECTION PROGRAM
We at Code Blue, along with other manufacturers of urine‐based scent products who participate in the Responsible Hunting Scent Association’s (RHSA) Deer Protection Program (RHSA DPP), are fully committed to helping the state wildlife agencies maintain healthy wild deer herds and taking proactive steps to limit the potential of their products contributing to the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). Through this program, participating scent manufacturer members are committed to using urine from facilities that are taking steps above and beyond those required by the APHIS Herd Certification Program to even further reduce the potential of CWD being present in their deer herds. The urine‐based scent manufacturers, facilitated by RHSA, have developed a program that exceeds State and Federal requirements in order to substantially safeguard deer populations in and around these facilities
COMPLIANCE PROTOCOLS
All cervid urine collection facilities participating in the RHSA DPP require herd certification and are currently in compliance with the APHIS Herd Certification Program and/or a federally approved state CWD certification program.
The RHSA DPP goes above and beyond these standards and also requires:
- Closed herds - no importation of live cervids
- Continual CWD monitoring
- Additional facility inspections
- Physical herd inspections
- Advancing the science
- Facility management
RT-QUIC TESTING
RT-QuIC testing was developed as a cutting-edge research technique to push the boundaries of detection for prion diseases like CWD. The basis of the test is fundamentally different than any other test currently used to detect CWD:
- Real-time quaking induced conversion or RT-QuIC (pronounced RT-quick) has been used in laboratories to detect prions in biological samples such as urine, saliva and feces from CWD infected deer.
- RT-QuIC is greater than 10,000 fold more sensitive than IHC and ELISA used by diagnostic labs today.
- Increased sensitivity allows for detection of CWD in samples where detection was not previously possible.
- Because levels of CWD are so minute in urine, the RT-QuIC test not only requires amplification for detection of CWD, but also requires the CWD prions to be concentrated prior to testing.
