The state’s second case of chronic wasting disease was confirmed recently in an adult male white-tailed deer harvested by a hunter near Spokane.
The deer was harvested close to where the state’s first case was confirmed this summer.
“Given the location where this deer was harvested — just north of the initial CWD detection, approximately five miles north and west of Highway 395 — this positive test result is not a complete surprise,” state Fish and Wildlife Wildlife Science Division Chief Donny Martorello said in a news release.
Lymph nodes from the deer were submitted to the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Washington State University, where a positive test result was confirmed.
“The public can track confirmed cases of CWD on the Department’s CWD web page,” said Martorello. “Hunters can also use their WILD ID to look up the lab results from samples they submitted.”
The disease infects members of the deer family and is always fatal. It can be confirmed only through testing of lymph nodes or brain tissue.
The disease has been documented in wild or captive members of the deer family in 34 other states and four Canadian provinces.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife began testing for it in 1995.
Efforts were increased starting in 2021 in Eastern Washington due to its proximity to known cases in western Montana.
Fish and Wildlife has been preparing for the possibility of finding the disease in the state.
Toward those means, it developed a Chronic Wasting Disease Management Plan that will now guide a response in managing the spread of the disease.
Fish and Wildlife has been running an extensive chronic wasting disease testing program this hunting season in a proactive effort to prevent the spread of the disease to other areas of the state, and changes have been made to rules that impact hunters, game salvagers and those who feed wildlife in an effort to slow the spread of the disease.
New rules include that deer, elk and moose harvested or salvaged in game management units 124, 127 and 130 are required to be tested for chronic wasting disease within three days of harvesting or receiving a salvage permit.
There are also rules in place regarding transporting harvested or salvaged deer, elk, moose, or caribou from another state, province, or country, or from a 100 series game management unit.
It is also illegal to use bait for deer, elk, or moose in units 124, 127 and 130.
Chronic wasting disease can be spread to deer, elk and moose.
There are no confirmed cases of chronic wasting disease spreading from wildlife to domestic animals or from members of the deer family to other wild species.
There is also no evidence of it being transmitted to humans.
To minimize risk to humans, however, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends against consuming meat from an animal that has tested positive.
