Chronic Wasting Disease cases in NC deer populations grow by 13 cases. – NCWRC staff
RALEIGH — The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) is confirming 13 new cases of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) from deer samples submitted since July 1, 2023. This brings the total number of positive results in North Carolina to 24, since the disease was first detected in a Yadkin County deer harvested in 2021.
“These additional cases are not entirely unexpected,” said Wildlife Management Division Chief Brad Howard. “After the initial detection in Yadkin County we activated our response plan. It called for greatly increasing the number of deer tested to get a clear picture of where CWD occurs in our state and how many deer are infected. I’m actually encouraged by how few CWD-positive deer we’ve found, given how many deer we’ve tested.”
Last fall, 36,146 samples were collected from wild cervids, and the NCWRC has received results from 98 percent of those samples. The 13 CWD-positive results this year came from counties where CWD-positive deer had been identified in previous years, Cumberland, Surry, Stokes and Yadkin counties. Preliminary testing indicated CWD-positive results for one deer harvested in Johnston County and one deer harvested in Franklin County. Secondary testing, conducted through the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, later reversed results for those counties.
“Our agency’s standard protocol is to have the National Veterinary Services Lab provide a double-check of any samples that initially test positive for CWD,” said Howard. “In the case of the two deer from Johnston and Franklin counties, the initial slides contained what the pathologists refer to as light staining of the follicles. Light staining can very well mean CWD. In this case, the pathologists at the National Lab examined both sample sets and determined that the staining was artifact staining and concluded that these deer (Johnston and Franklin locations) did not have CWD. This is exactly why we submit samples for double confirmation and why we do not initiate regulatory changes until we have that confirmation.”
Continued testing
