TAHC Chronic Wasting Disease Detected in Brown County High-Fence Release Site

 For Immediate Release

January 10, 2025

Chronic Wasting Disease Detected in Brown County High-Fence Release Site

AUSTIN, TX – Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) received confirmation of one case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a Brown County high fence ranch, marking the first confirmed detection in the county.

A three and a half-year-old female white-tailed deer tested positive through postmortem testing conducted to meet CWD surveillance requirements for a site epidemiologically traced to a CWD-positive facility. Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) initially analyzed the samples, and the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Iowa confirmed the CWD detection.

The detection occurred on a ranch registered as a deer breeder release site and identified as having received deer from a CWD-positive breeding facility reported in 2024.

CWD has an incubation period that can span years, so the first indication of the disease in a herd is often found through surveillance testing rather than observed clinical signs. Testing hunter-harvested deer allows animal health officials to assess disease presence and was required as part of the quarantine issued for this property epidemiologically traced to a facility with a CWD-positive detection.

Landowners and hunters are encouraged to implement sound wildlife management practices, such as adequate deer harvest and management of healthy native habitat, to help mitigate disease impacts on the deer populations, especially in areas where CWD has been detected.

CWD is a fatal neurological disease found in certain cervids including deer, elk, moose and other members of the deer family. This slow, progressive disease may not produce visible signs in susceptible species for several years after infection. As the disease process continues, animals with CWD may show changes in behavior and appearance. Clinical signs may include progressive weight loss, stumbling or tremors with a lack of coordination, loss of appetite, teeth grinding, abnormal head posture and/or drooping ears, and excessive thirst, salivation or urination.

In Texas, the disease was first discovered in 2012 in free-ranging mule deer along a remote area of the Hueco Mountains near the Texas-New Mexico border. CWD has since been detected in Texas captive and free-ranging cervids, including white-tailed deer, mule deer, red deer and elk.

For more information on previous detections in Texas, regulations, and CWD best management practices for hunters and landowners, visit TPWD’s CWD page or TAHC’s CWD page.

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https://www.tahc.texas.gov/news/2025/2025-01-10-CWD_BrownCo.pdf

Texas CWD Surveillance Positives Tracking Page is outdated

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/positive-cases/listing-cwd-cases-texas.phtml#texasCWD

Counties where CWD Exposed Deer were Released

https://tpwd.texas.gov/documents/257/CWD-Trace-OutReleaseSites.pdf

Number of CWD Exposed Deer Released by County

https://tpwd.texas.gov/documents/258/CWD-Trace-OutReleaseSites-NbrDeer.pdf

CDC Journal ahead print into 2025 CWD not looking good

Prions in Muscles of Cervids with Chronic Wasting Disease, Norway T. T. Vuong et al.

Detection of Chronic Wasting Disease Prions in Raw, Processed, and Cooked Elk Meat, Texas, USA R. Benavente et al.

Volume 31, Number 1—January 2025

Dispatch

Detection of Prions in Wild Pigs (Sus scrofa) from Areas with Reported Chronic Wasting Disease Cases, United States

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/early-release#issue-269

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/31/1/24-0401_article

CDC, About Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)

KEY POINTS

Chronic wasting disease affects deer, elk and similar animals in the United States and a few other countries.

The disease hasn't been shown to infect people.

However, it might be a risk to people if they have contact with or eat meat from animals infected with CWD.

https://www.cdc.gov/chronic-wasting/about/index.html

TEXAS CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION UPDATE DECEMBER 2024 TOTAL TO DATE 1061 CASES CONFIRMED December 2024

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Terry-Singeltary/publication/387509143_TEXAS_CHRONIC_WASTING_DISEASE_CWD_TSE_PRION_UPDATE_DECEMBER_2024_TOTAL_TO_DATE_1061_CASES_CONFIRMED/links/6771beb000aa3770e0c3e225/TEXAS-CHRONIC-WASTING-DISEASE-CWD-TSE-PRION-UPDATE-DECEMBER-2024-TOTAL-TO-DATE-1061-CASES-CONFIRMED.pdf

terry