Surveillance detects 197 positive CWD cases

Chronic wasting disease surveillance conducted in southwestern Nebraska during the November and December deer seasons detected 197 positive cases in deer.

In the Buffalo, Republican, Platte and Frenchman management units 785 samples were collected for testing. CWD was detected for the first time in Logan, Kearney and Nuckolls counties.

Hunters looking to view 2025 CWD results, identified by harvest seal number and year, can find them at OutdoorNebraska.gov; search for “CWD.”

CWD surveillance in Nebraska is implemented in four to seven units each year, rotating to a different part of the state. New this year, hunters were able to request mail-in sampling kits; as kits were available for hunters through Dec. 31 final CWD counts may slightly vary.

Since 1997, Nebraska Game and Parks has tested more than 58,000 deer and 400 elk, with more than 1,500 deer and 30 elk testing positive for CWD to date. CWD has been detected in free-ranging deer or elk in 71 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 36 states.

CWD is caused by a misfolded, infectious protein, known as a prion, which ultimately kills the brain cells of infected deer, elk and moose. While it is always fatal to the infected animal, animals can appear healthy while shedding the prion prior to the final stages of the disease when they become debilitated and die.

While CWD has not been reported in humans, it is related to another prion disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which can cause variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in humans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For this reason, 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 Game and Parks’ Chronic Wasting Disease Management Plan at OutdoorNebraska.gov.