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Increased CWD Testing in Three Northwest Ohio Counties
FINDLAY, Ohio – The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) is asking white-tailed deer hunters in portions of Wyandot, Marion, and Hardin counties to submit samples of harvested deer for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) testing. Testing is voluntary but highly encouraged.
CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects deer populations. A CWD-positive wild Ohio white-tailed deer was recently identified in Wyandot County. The Division of Wildlife will implement its CWD response plan, which includes enhanced surveillance in 15 townships in the surrounding area, to monitor for the disease.
Additional testing will be available for those who take a deer during the weekend gun season, Dec. 19-20, the muzzleloader season, Jan. 2-5, 2021, and all remaining controlled hunts on Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area. Hunters in the following townships are asked to submit deer for CWD testing free of charge.
Big Island, Grand, Grand Prairie, Montgomery, and Salt Rock townships
Harvested deer can be taken to the Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area Headquarters, located at 19100 County Highway 115, Harpster 43323. Wildlife professionals will be on-site to sample deer from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. Questions can be directed to 1-800-WILDLIFE (945-3543).
Hunters are asked to provide their confirmation number from the game check process as well as the location where the deer was taken (the address of the property or nearest road intersection are acceptable). The process should take no more than 10 minutes. Hunters are strongly encouraged to complete the game check process prior to arriving.
Ohio Confirms First CWD Case in Wild Whitetail Deer
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife has identified a positive test for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in a wild Ohio whitetail deer in Wyandot County.
The adult male deer was taken by a hunter on private property, ODNR says, and is the first confirmed case of CWD discovered in the wild deer population in the state. Tissue samples were submitted for testing by a taxidermist and the positive test was identified after results were obtained on Thursday, December 10.
CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects whitetail deer and other similar species, including mule deer, elk, and moose. Its symptoms include drastic weight loss (wasting), stumbling, listlessness and other neurological problems. The disease is fatal, and there is no known treatment or vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
For the first time since routine surveillance for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was instituted in 2002 in Ohio, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife has identified a positive test for CWD in a wild Ohio white-tailed deer in Wyandot County.
Fawn whitetail deer. Image/Lynn Betts, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Officials are gathering additional details about the adult male deer taken by a hunter on private property. Tissue samples were submitted for testing by a taxidermist and the positive test was identified after results were obtained on Thursday, December 10, 2020.
The Division of Wildlife has conducted routine surveillance for CWD since 2002, testing more than 25,000 deer without finding a CWD positive deer in the wild herd. CWD has previously been detected at captive deer breeding facilities in Ohio.