KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Department of Conservation said Friday it has confirmed 24 new cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Missouri.
The department collected nearly 27,000 tissue samples from white-tailed deer for testing this season, mostly from hunter-harvested deer.
The 24 CWD-positive samples were found in the following counties:
- Adair: 2
- Franklin: 5
- Linn: 5
- Macon: 2
- Perry: 2
- Ste. Genevieve: 5
- Stone: 2
- Taney: 1
The conservation department said it is trying to limit the disease’s spread with its sampling and testing efforts.
Even with the new cases, officials said CWD is still rare in Missouri.
“While any new cases of CWD are not good news, we are happy that no cases have been found in new counties this year,” Wildlife Disease Coordinator Jasmine Batten said in a news release.
CWD was first found in Missouri in free-ranging deer in 2012, according to the state.
Since then, the conservation department has tested around 130,000 deer for the disease, with 140 positive results, including the new cases.
Batten said it is a good sign that only three cases were discovered near the Missouri-Arkansas border, given the extent of CWD in northwest Arkansas.
After the close of deer season, the department said it would continue disease management efforts on a voluntary basis, working with landowners to remove potentially infected deer.
Overall, the agency said it is encouraged by the recent results.
“These results suggest that our disease-management actions are working,” Batten said.
According to the conservation department, CWD is a deadly disease in white-tailed deer that causes fatal lesions in the brain, similar to mad cow disease in cattle.
The disease does not have a vaccine or cure, and research shows it is “impossible to eliminate once it has become well-established in an area.”
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