Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected on another Wisconsin deer farm and for the first time in Bexar County, Texas.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) yesterday confirmed CWD in a 10-year-old doe on a 22-acre deer farm in Sauk County. The National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, confirmed the case. The farm remains under quarantine as veterinarians from the DATCP and the US Department of Agriculture conduct an epidemiologic investigation.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) yesterday announced that a free-range white-tailed deer in Hollywood Park, Bexar County, has tested positive for CWD. The deer was harvested as part of a deer population-control effort in late January. The NVSL confirmed the case.
TPWD said it will hold community meetings this summer on mitigation actions and CWD zone establishment. The disease was first detected in Texas in 2012.
CWD is a fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by infectious prions (misfolded proteins) that affects cervids such as deer, elk, and moose. In addition to North America, the infection has been identified in several Nordic countries and South Korea. While the disease is not yet known to affect humans, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization recommend against consuming meat from CWD-infected cervids.