The Missouri Department of Conservation has confirmed 46 new cases of chronic wasting disease from its monitoring and testing efforts for the 2019-2020 CWD surveillance year. The new cases include eight each in Linn and Macon counties and three in Adair County.
The new findings bring the total number of cases in Missouri to 162. MDC has tested more than 137,000 deer since the first cases of CWD were found in free-ranging deer in Missouri in 2012.
Previously this season, MDC confirmed 25 of the 46 new cases from nearly 29,000 tissue samples collected from white-tailed deer and submitted for disease testing. Most of the samples were taken from hunter-harvested deer.
MDC confirmed an additional 21 of the 46 new cases of CWD through its post-season targeted culling efforts in January through early March in areas where previous cases of CWD have been found. Nearly 14 hundred (1,390) landowners participated and helped MDC staff remove nearly 24 hundred deer in those areas to manage CWD.
Deer harvested through targeted culling that did not test positive for the disease were returned to the landowner or donated to local food pantries through the Share the Harvest venison donation program.
MDC reports post-season targeted culling can help decrease CWD transmission by reducing the number of potentially infected deer within infected areas. Missouri and other states have limited the percent of deer infected with CWD by sustaining a long-term, targeted culling management program.
CWD is a deadly disease in white-tailed deer and other members of the deer family. The purpose of MDC’s CWD sampling and testing efforts is to find cases early, so the department can limit the spread of the disease by implementing management actions, such as targeted culling.
