The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has carried out extensive testing for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer from July 2023 to April 2024. During this period, the department tested over 37,000 deer across the state. Out of these, 162 were found to have CWD.
CWD-positive deer were found in 27 different counties. Among the affected counties, one case was identified in Grundy, nine in Linn, three in both Putnam and Adair, two in both Sullivan and Carroll, four in Chariton, and seven in Macon. Notably, Grundy and Chariton counties reported their first cases this year.
The discovery of 162 new cases in the 2023 CWD surveillance year increases the total number of confirmed cases in Missouri to 572 since the first detection in wild deer by the MDC in 2012. Since starting CWD surveillance in 2002, more than 280,000 tissue samples from wild deer have been collected and tested for the disease in Missouri.
CWD is a fatal disease affecting white-tailed deer and other members of the deer family, with a 100% fatality rate in infected animals. The disease has led to declines in deer populations in several states. The MDC highlights the significant risk CWD poses to Missouri’s deer population, as well as the state’s hunting tradition and economy.
