CWD Yearly Results Released By MDC

Testing from the Missouri Department of Conservation showed 117 deer testing positive for Chronic Wasting Disease out of 33,000 deer testing during the CWD surveillance year which ran from January of 2022 to April of 2023.

Those 117 deer bring the total number of CWD cases found in the state to 409 since the first case in wild deer was confirmed by MDC in early 2012. Including recent sampling efforts, more than 243,000 tissue samples from wild deer have been collected for CWD testing in Missouri since MDC began CWD surveillance in 2002.

Nearly 19,400 of the 33,000-plus deer tested this past CWD surveillance year were sampled as part of MDC mandatory CWD sampling efforts in select counties during the opening weekend of the November portion of firearms deer season, Nov. 12 and 13. Most of the remaining samples resulted from MDC’s voluntary sampling efforts conducted throughout the deer season in partnership with taxidermists and meat processors throughout the state.

Approximately, 3,500 deer were collected during MDC’s targeted culling efforts conducted in cooperation with landowners on a voluntary basis after the close of regular deer season in localized areas near where CWD has been found. Through targeted culling, 41 CWD-positive deer were removed to help slow the spread of CWD.

There were 23 Missouri counties which had CWD-positive deer. Those from the region included 15 from Linn County, 3 from Putnam County, 1 from Livingston County, and 3 from Sullivan County. Livingston and Sullivan counties had first-time CWD detections.

In Missouri this past year, less than one percent of tissue samples from hunter-harvested deer tested positive for CWD.