By Justin Walker
Communications Specialist
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission has expanded the chronic wasting disease (CWD) Panhandle Containment Zone after the disease was discovered in a roadkill white-tailed deer earlier this year.
The Containment Zone 2, which is positioned on the western portion of the Panhandle adjacent to the New Mexico border, encompasses Farwell, Hereford, Canyon, Amarillo, Dumas and Stratford.
“The decision to expand slightly the Panhandle Containment Zone is a direct result of the test positive roadkill discovery,” Dr. Bob Dittmar, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) wildlife veterinarian, said. “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.”
A total of 10,104 deer, elk and other susceptible exotic game animal samples were collected during the 2017-18 collection year. TPWD collected 2,203 samples from roadkill. Other samples were obtained by mandatory and voluntary hunter harvest submissions.
Texas has confirmed 100 cases of CWD since 2012, when the disease was first discovered in a mule deer along the New Mexico border. Of those cases, 64 were discovered in captive deer breeding pens, 11 hunter harvested cases on breeder deer release sites and two elk from a breeder release site. Free-ranging deer and elk have also been found with CWD. In addition, 20 mule deer, two white-tailed deer and one elk were discovered with the disease.
CWD was first discovered in captive mule deer in Colorado more than 50 years ago. The disease has since been documented in 23 states and two Canadian provinces.
Additional information about CWD can be found here.