CWD digest: Detections at Gettysburg Park in Pennsylvania, Carbon County, Utah

In total, DWR biologists received 2,126 samples for CWD testing, 1,479 of which were from hunter-harvested animals. Eighty-three samples tested positive for CWD, down slightly from 98 the previous season.

Carbon County is located in the east-central part of the state and shares a border with Uintah County, which abuts Colorado and was the site of the state’s first CWD detection in a mule deer buck in 2002.

“We can't accurately compare each year’s positive cases to determine how fast the disease is spreading because we sample areas of the state on a five-year rotation—alternatively, we compare each unit from year to year,” DWR State Wildlife Veterinarian Ginger Stout, DVM, said in a division news release. “However, we are finding the disease in new areas, so unfortunately, it does appear to be spreading in Utah.”

Last fall, new areas of Uintah County, including Little Mountain, Pine Ridge, and Dry Fork, also had positive cases for the first time. In total, 435 mule deer and 11 elk have tested positive for CWD in northern, northeastern, central, and southeastern Utah.

CWD is a fatal neurodegenerative disease of cervids such as deer, elk, and moose. It’s spreads through infectious misfolded proteins called prions via body fluids and environmental contamination. No human infections have been identified, but public health agencies recommend against consuming the meat of sick or infected animals and advise caution when handling the carcasses.