Lab testing on 51 deer indicates low prevalence of disease
ST. FRANCIS – None of the 51 deer collected in follow-up sampling for chronic wasting disease (CWD) tested positive for the disease. Kansas State University lab analysis was completed Monday, Feb. 20th.

“This suggests that the presence of CWD in this part of the country is a relatively recent event, and that the prevalence of the disease in the deer population is low,” said Lloyd Fox, big game project leader for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.

KDWP staff conducted additional sampling of deer in Cheyenne County last week, in response to the state’s first occurrence of CWD in a wild deer. A total of 51 deer – 29 mule deer and 22 whitetails -- were taken within a 15-mile radius of the site where a Cheyenne County hunter shot a whitetail doe which tested positive for the disease. Tissues from deer collected in the follow-up sampling were submitted to Kansas State University for analysis to help monitor any potential additional occurrence of CWD.

CWD attacks the central nervous system of infected animals, and is within a group of similar diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE). While CWD can spread among deer and elk, it is not known to transmit to humans, livestock, or other animals. More information on chronic wasting disease is also available on the Internet at the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website.

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