Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a chronic, fatal disease of the central nervous system in mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, and moose. CWD belongs to the group of rare diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). These disorders are caused by abnormal proteins called “prions” (pronounced “pree-ons”). The disease has been detected in most deer and elk hunt areas in Wyoming.
With help from hunters, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department monitors the distribution and prevalence of CWD to better understand how this disease affects the health of Wyoming’s deer and elk populations. Continued monitoring of CWD over time is important to help Game and Fish understand the potential impacts of the disease as well as evaluate management actions for deer and elk.
The surveillance regime focuses sampling efforts on specific deer and elk herds in each Department region on a five-year rotational basis. The goal is at least 200 testable samples from adult elk (both genders) and 200 testable samples from adult male deer harvested in each targeted herd. The 200-sample goal allows wildlife managers to determine a statistically-valid prevalence estimate at the 95 percent confidence level. The herd unit rotation is designed to obtain prevalence estimates for each herd unit approximately every five years to track trends over time.
Samples are collected during the fall hunting season through the cooperation of hunters who voluntarily allow Department personnel to collect lymph nodes from harvested animals at hunter check stations, meat processors, in the field or at regional Game and Fish offices. In recent years in some hunt areas of the state, a mandatory submission requirement has been implemented.
There are no mandatory submission hunt areas in the Sheridan Region in 2025. However, deer hunt areas 19, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 163, 169 and elk hunt areas 35-40 are priority sampling areas in 2025, meaning Game and Fish personnel will make contact with hunters in the field, at game check stations and at meat processing facilities to request CWD samples from harvested animals from these hunt areas. Sampling takes just a few minutes and requires removing a set of lymph nodes from the neck of the animal. Participation is voluntary.
Hunters who want their harvested tested, can bring the head of the animal to the Sheridan Regional Office during regular business hours.
Animals infected with CWD can look healthy and in good condition. They usually do not show visible signs of the disease until the final few weeks of life. Therefore, a laboratory-tested sample is necessary to determine if the animal has the disease.
To date, there have been no cases of CWD in humans and no direct proof that humans can get CWD. However, animal studies suggest CWD poses a risk to some types of non-human primates, like monkeys, that eat meat from CWD-infected animals. These experimental studies raise the concern that CWD may pose a risk to humans and suggest that it is important to prevent exposures to CWD. Therefore, the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization recommend that CWD-infected animals not be consumed.
You can quarter and freeze your animal until test results are available to save on meat processing costs in case the disease is detected in your harvested animal. If the disease is detected, the lab results can be used as a receipt to dispose of the carcass at an approved landfill without the disposal being considered waste of edible parts.
Results from CWD testing are available online within three weeks. Hunters get the results of their deer or elk’s CWD test online through their account on the Game and Fish website.
