Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a brain disease of mule deer, white-tailed deer and elk. The disease belongs to a group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs).
Other TSEs include scrapie of domestic sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) of cattle, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) of humans and new variant CJD, which is probably linked to the BSE agent. There is no known cure for TSEs, and they are always fatal in susceptible host species.
CWD Symptoms
Affected animals show progressive loss of body condition, behavioral changes, excessive salivation, increased drinking and urinating, drooping ears and a dropped head. Not all individual animals show all the typical signs. If you see a deer or elk that looks sick, call your local Wyoming Game and Fish Department representative.
Additional Information
For more information on CWD, please call (307) 777-4600 or log onto the Wyoming Game and Fish Department Website at http://gf.state.wy.us
Processing Deer or Elk from CWD Areas
Although natural occurrences have not been documented, recent research indicates intact carcasses from deer that died of CWD may spread the disease to healthy deer. To minimize this possibility the department recommends that deer and elk hunters transport only the following items from areas where CWD is known to exist:
cut and wrapped meat
boned meat
animal quarters or other pieces with no portion of the spinal column or head attached
hides without the head
cleaned (no meat or other tissue attached) skull plates with antlers attached
antlers with no meat or other tissue attached
The head, spine and other nervous tissue should be left at the site of the kill or bagged and disposed of in an approved landfill.
Continue Following Current Regulations
Nothing in these recommendations allows hunters to remove evidence of sex, species or horn or antler development as required in the regulations. For further information refer to the Important Hunting Information Section in the current year’s deer or elk regulations.
Surveillance Efforts
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will continue CWD surveys this fall. Tissue samples will be collected from harvested deer and elk at selected check stations and meat processing facilities. Hunter participation is voluntary. Surveys help the department monitor CWD in Wyoming.
Testing procedures are not intended to provide quality assurance for individual carcasses. Hunters who choose to have their animals individually tested can contact the Wyoming State Veterinarian Laboratory at (307) 742-6638 for testing and fee information.
Transporting Your Harvested Deer or Elk
Nonresident hunters should check with their state wildlife agency concerning local recommendations or regulations prohibiting importation of certain portions of carcasses into that state. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will notify the state wildlife agency in your state if your animal tests positive for CWD.
What do human health experts say?
After a review of available scientific data, the World Health Organization in December of 1999, stated, “There is currently no evidence that CWD in cervidae (deer and elk) is transmitted to humans.” In a more recent article (2004), Dr. Ermias Belay of the Center for Disease Control said, “The lack of evidence of a link between CWD transmission and unusual cases of CJD, [Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a human prion disease] despite several epidemiologic investigations…suggest that the risk, if any, of transmission of CWD to humans is low.” Nonetheless, to avoid any risk, both organizations say parts or products from any animal that looks sick or tests positive for CWD or other TSEs should not be eaten.
Handling Precautions
State public health officials and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department recommend taking the following simple precautions when handling deer or elk carcasses where CWD occurs.
Wear rubber or latex gloves as a routine precaution when field dressing.
Minimize handling of brain and spinal tissues and wash hands afterward.
When butchering, meat should be boned out.
Do not eat the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen or lymph nodes of harvested animals.
Hunters should not harvest or eat wild animals that appear sick.
Mule and White-tailed Deer
print/text version
