Deer in Wyandot County tests positive for chronic wasting disease

FINDLAY — After a white-tailed deer in Wyandot County tested positive for chronic wasting disease, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is asking deer hunters in portions of Wyandot, Marion and Hardin counties to submit samples of harvested deer for testing. Testing is voluntary but highly encouraged for CWD, a fatal neurological disease that affects deer populations. The Division of Wildlife is implementing its CWD response plan, which includes enhanced surveillance in 15 townships in the surrounding area, to monitor for the disease, according to an ODNR news release. Additional testing will be available for hunters who take deer during this weekend during the weekend deer-gun portion of deer-gun season, Jan. 2-5 during muzzleloader season and during remaining controlled hunts on Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area. Hunters in the Wyandot County townships of Antrim, Crane, Eden, Jackson, Mifflin, Marseilles, Pitt, Richland and Salem; Goshen Township in Hardin County; and the Marion County townships of Big Island, Grand, Grand Prairie, Montgomery and Salt Rock are asked to submit deer for free CWD testing. Harvested deer can be taken to the Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area Headquarters, 19100 CR 115, Harpster 43323. Wildlife professionals will be onsite to sample deer from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. Questions can be directed to (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. Each sample will be provided a unique specimen number that can be used to check results in about eight weeks. Results can be found under the District Two Enhanced Surveillance Results tab on the Chronic Wasting Disease page at wildohio.gov. Hunters who plan to take their harvested deer to a taxidermist do not need to submit a sample at Killdeer Plains. However, they are asked to (800) WILDLIFE with the harvest location and taxidermist name, and a sample will be collected from the taxidermist for testing. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no strong evidence that CWD is transmissible to humans, the release said. However, hunters are encouraged to wear rubber gloves when field dressing deer and avoid consuming high-risk tissues such as the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils and lymph nodes. Hunters should dispose of carcasses by double-bagging any high-risk tissues and including them in household trash to be delivered to a landfill. Those who hunt out-of-state can help prevent the spread of CWD by following carcass regulations and not bringing high-risk tissues across state lines. 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 previously has been detected at captive deer breeding facilities in Ohio. Find more information about Ohio's CWD surveillance at wildohio.gov. CWD has been detected in 26 states and four Canadian provinces. The disease was first discovered in the 1960s in the western U.S.