Texas has recorded its first cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in free-ranging whitetail and elk. Those conclusions were recorded during statewide surveillance efforts for the 2016-17 collection year.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) surpassed its statewide goal of 6,735 CWD samples, collecting 9,380 from hunter-harvested and road kill deer and other susceptible cervid species, between March 1, 2016 and Feb. 28, 2017.

Sampling objectives were established by TPWD wildlife biologists based on deer densities within each of the 41 Deer Management Units (DMU) in Texas and other factors to establish sufficient confidence of detection if CWD were present within those localized populations.

TPWD wildlife staff collected CWD samples from a variety of locations including: road kill deer, deer processors, private ranches, wildlife management areas and state parks and voluntary and mandatory hunter harvest check stations.

Of the 9,380 samples collected, 23 percent were road kill.

Exotic species that have been sampled include axis deer, fallow deer, red stag, sika, and elk, although there is no evidence that axis and follow deer are susceptible to this disease.

Among the CWD positives detected in Texas this past season, some notable firsts include:

1. The first confirmed case of CWD in a free-ranging Texas whitetail was detected in a hunter harvested 1 ½-year-old buck submitted of sampling within the Surveillance Zone 3 located in portions of Medina, Uvalde and Bandera counties.

2. The first known free-ranging elk in Texas to test positive for CWD, harvested by a hunter in Dallam County.

3. The first known case of a captive-raised white-tailed deer in Texas that live tested “non detected” for CWD, but after being harvested by a hunter on a release site three months later tested positive for the disease.

To date, Texas has recorded 49 confirmed cases of CWD, of which 26 were discovered in captive deer breeding pens, five were hunter harvested on breeder deer release sites, 16 were free-ranging mule deer, one was a free-ranging elk and one was a free-ranging white-tailed deer.

“The good news is so far our sampling in the Trans-Pecs has only detected CWD in the Hueco Mountains area,” Dr. Bob Dittmar, TPWD wildlife veterinarian, said in a news release. “Since 2012, the disease has been found in 13 mule deer out of 117 tested in the Hueco Mountains area for an 11 percent prevalence rate.”

Dittmar also expressed guarded confidence that CWD has not spread outside the Hueco Mountains area based on increased sampling in the surrounding ranges.

The state’s wildlife disease management response focuses on an early detection and containment strategy designed to limit the spread of CWD from the affected area and better understand the distribution and prevalence of the disease.

“The more effective we are at containing this disease within a limited geographic area, the better it will be four our wildlife resources and all those who enjoy them,” Dittmar said. “We want to thanks the Texas hunting community for its strong support of our management efforts; we cannot combat the spread of CWD without it.”

A detailed summary of CWD sampling for the 2016-17 collection season is available for review online.