The state Department of Conservation says an adult female deer in southern Missouri’s Oregon County has tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The department was notified after a landowner found a dead deer on their property and contacted MDC officials.
Photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Conservation
This is the first deer found dead in Missouri that has tested positive for CWD, according to a department news release.
The Oregon County case brings the total number of CWD cases detected in free ranging deer in Missouri to 76 since 2012.
“We will be working cooperatively with hunters and landowners in the coming months to test more deer in this area and assess the extent of the disease in Oregon County,” MDC Wildlife Disease Coordinator Jasmine Batten says.
CWD is a fatal disease that effects deer and other members of the deer family, such as elk.
There have been no cases of CWD infecting humans, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that hunters harvesting deer in areas known to have CWD to get their deer tested before consuming its meat.
