Surveillance detects 60 positive CWD cases

Chronic wasting disease surveillance conducted in eastern Nebraska during the November firearm deer season detected 60 positive cases in deer.

More than 1,400 samples were collected from harvested deer at check stations in the Missouri, Elkhorn, Loup East, Wahoo, Blue Northwest and Blue Southeast deer management units. CWD was detected for the first time in Antelope, Madison, Butler, York, Seward, Jefferson, Richardson, Merrick, Greeley and Platte counties.

CWD surveillance in Nebraska is implemented in four to seven units each year, rotating to a different part of the state. To view 2024 CWD results, identified by harvest seal number, visit OutdoorNebraska.gov; search for “CWD.”

Since 1997, Nebraska Game and Parks has tested more than 58,000 deer and more than 400 elk, with 1,347 deer and 23 elk testing positive for CWD to date. At this time, CWD has been detected in free-ranging deer or elk in 68 counties.

The disease was first discovered in Colorado in 1967 and in Nebraska in 2000 in Kimball County. To date, it has been detected in wild or captive deer, elk or moose in 35 states.

CWD is a prion disease that attacks the brain of infected deer, elk and moose; it is always fatal to the infected animal. While no CWD infections in humans have been reported, public health officials recommend taking precautions when handling or processing a harvest or tools used during the butchering process. They also recommend avoiding consumption of meat from deer and elk that look sick or that test positive for CWD.

Learn more about the disease, recommended precautions to take, or find Game and Parks’ Chronic Wasting Disease Management Plan at OutdoorNebraska.gov.