Additional CWD Cases Confirmed in Eastern Washington

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has confirmed four new cases of chronic wasting disease in the Eastern Region 1.  That brings the total cases in Washington to six.  All four of the recent cases were male white-tailed deer harvested by a hunter.

Three of the deer were harvested within five miles of the first two positive cases in Spokane County in game management unit (GMU) 124, while the fourth was confirmed several miles north near Davis Lake in Pend Oreille County in GMU 117.  All four animals were submitted for CWD testing and samples were collected by WDFW staff in mid-to-late November.  Lymph nodes from the deer were submitted to the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory [WADDL] at Washington State University and results were reported in mid-December.

“As general season hunts just concluded in Region 1 on December 15th, there are still several samples awaiting testing at the lab from the areas where these recent cases were confirmed,” said Donny Martorello, Chief of WDFW’s Wildlife Science Division.  “So, there is the potential that we could find additional positive cases.” 

CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, TSE, that infects members of the Cervidae ‘deer’ family and is fatal in infected deer, elk, and moose.  TSEs are caused by malformed proteins called prions.  There is currently no cure for CWD, and it can only be confirmed through testing of lymph nodes or brain tissue.  

To date there are no confirmed cases of CWD transmission from wildlife to domestic animals or from cervids to other wild species.  CWD has not been shown to infect people, but research is still ongoing, and it is not known for certain if people can become infected with this disease. 

To minimize the risk, the State Department of Health and the CDC recommend not eating any animal that tests positive for CWD or appears sick.  With most deer, elk, and moose hunting seasons over for the year, WDFW will continue to test salvaged animals for CWD and encourages people to report sick or dead animals.

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