Two new cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Texas captive deer, including the first confirmed from a live test tonsillar biopsy sample, were validated on April 1, according to the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC).
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and TAHC are conducting an epidemiological investigation into these new cases.
One case involves a 3-1/2-year-old captive raised white-tailed doe that was born and raised on-site and died on-site of natural causes at a deer breeding facility in Medina County where the disease had not previously been found. Test samples were submitted in compliance with TAHC herd plan requirements.
The live test finding is from a 2-½-year-old captive white-tailed buck in the Uvalde-Medina County deer breeding facility that was the source of a CWD-positive white-tailed buck harvested by a hunter from a release site on the same ranch.
With these new confirmations, 10 white-tailed deer in or originating from deer breeding facilities have been confirmed positive for CWD in the state since the original detection in June 2015, according to TAHC.
Tissue samples revealed the presence of CWD prions during testing at the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) in College Station. The samples were submitted to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, which validated the suspect findings.
To date, there is no evidence that CWD poses a risk to humans or non-cervids. As a precaution, however, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization recommend not to consume meat from infected animals.
More information on CWD can be found on TPWD’s website or at the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website.
More information about the TAHC CWD program can be found here.