First Case of CWD Detected in Free-Ranging Texas Whitetail
State taking steps and following plan to deploy early detection and containment strategy
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department reports they’ve found chronic wasting disease in a 1 1/2 –year-old white-tailed buck submitted for sampling in Medina County. This marks the first confirmed CWD case in a free-ranging Texas whitetail. TPWD and the Texas Animal Health Commission will deploy an early detection and containment strategy designed to limit the spread from the affected area and better understand the distribution and prevalence of the disease.
“Although the disease has been discovered in a free ranging whitetail in this area, we cannot draw any conclusions at this time based on one detection,” said Dr. Bob Dittmar, TPWD’s Wildlife Veterinarian. “Measures we are taking as part of our epidemiological investigation into this case are in line with the state’s strategies to prevent this disease from spreading any further. The more effective we are at containing this disease within a limited geographic area, the better it will be for our wildlife resources and all those who enjoy them.”
Three counties under containment zone
Effective immediately, Surveillance Zone 3—which extends across portions of Bandera, Medina, and Uvalde counties—is now a CWD Containment Zone. All associated rules for that designation are in effect. Those rules include restrictions on the movements of carcass parts, as well as live deer possessed under the authority of a permit. Mandatory CWD testing of hunter harvested deer within this containment zone will occur.
“Not only are these temporary emergency measures necessary and consistent with the state’s planned strategies for CWD management, they are essential for ensuring the protection of the state’s whitetail deer herd and the integrity of our hunting heritage,” said T. Dan Friedkin, Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission Chairman. “It is my intent for the Commission to address this issue through our regular rulemaking process, which provides opportunities for public comment and input from stakeholders, and that process will begin soon,” Friedkin added.
