2 Wyandot County deer found positive for CWD

UPPER SANDUSKY – Two deer in Wyandot County and one in Marion County have tested positive for chronic wasting disease this fall, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. All three cases were in deer harvested by hunters - two on Oct. 8 and one on Oct. 9. An early deer gun hunting season took place Oct. 8-10 in the disease surveillance area to limit the spread of CWD and monitor its prevalence, the ODNR news release said. The confirmation was made after the collection of 637 samples this fall in the surveillance area of Hardin, Marion and Wyandot counties on hunter-harvested and road-killed deer as well as through targeted sampling. All deer harvested in the surveillance area are required to be tested. Since fall 2020, 14 wild deer have tested positive for CWD, all in Marion and Wyandot counties. CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer and similar species such as mule deer, elk and moose. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ODNR said there is no strong evidence that CWD is transmissible to humans. Within Hardin, Marion and Wyandot counties, hunters are required to submit deer for testing that are harvested during the seven-day gun season that begins Monday and ends Dec. 4. Further, hunters can voluntarily submit deer for testing until the close of the deer archery season Feb. 5. Sampling locations can be found at ohiodnr.gov/cwd. Outside of the disease surveillance area, hunters can have harvested deer tested by the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory by making arrangements by calling 614-728-6220. ODNR said the Division of Wildlife has extensively monitored and tested deer in the disease surveillance area since CWD was discovered in the wild in 2020. Before that, routine testing has been conducted since 2002. CWD has been detected in 30 states and four Canadian provinces. The disease was first discovered in the 1960s in the western U.S. More information about the disease is available at cwd-info.org.