HARRISBURG, Pa. – Chronic waste disease (CWD) is one of the biggest wildlife challenges of this century, experts say, and highly contagious disease threatens one of Pennsylvania’s most prized natural resources.
Now, the state gaming commission is asking for help from the public before it spreads even further.
“A neurological disease that affects members of the deer family, which are deer, elk, elk, etc.,” said Bob Frye, communications coordinator for the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Frye said 539 deer in the state have tested positive for the disease since the agency began monitoring it in 2012. Eighty-six of those cases are from this year.
“Ultimately, in all cases, it leads to death,” Frye said. “It always is [a] deadly disease. There is no cure, no way to test the animal to see if it has it until after it dies. “
Experts said the disease develops slowly in the lymph nodes, spinal tissue and brain of the animal.
“In the case of deer, you create holes in your brain, which end up leading to what we call the waste part,” Frye explained. “Deer lose weight. They drool a lot. They lose their appetite. They become less cautious.”
These symptoms are not always obvious to the naked eye. That’s why the hunting commission is asking hunters to deposit their head in a marked container if they catch a deer in one of the state’s three disease control areas.
“We’ll try it for free and send you the results,” Frye said. “Then you’ll know before you eat your deer whether it was positive for CWD or not.”
Frye said there is no evidence that the disease is spreading to humans, but that it affects the deer population of 24 states across the country.
“We’re all in this fight together as people who care about wildlife and hunting,” Frye said. “We just ask them to continue to help us provide these samples. Then we can find out what we need to do and where we need to do it.”