Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) that is affecting white-tailed deer continues to expand across Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Game Commission, in cooperation with the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units at Penn State University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s, will capture and outfit deer with GPS collars over three years starting this winter. Deer will then be monitored to examine their fates.  

Ninety percent of known CWD deer that tested positive came from Bedford and Fulton counties since the disease was discovered in Pennsylvania in 2012. 

Andrea Korman, the Game Commission’s CWD Section Supervisor said, “Although it is unfortunate that CWD is now found in about one of every five hunter-harvested adult deer in these two counties (Bedford & Fulton), these circumstances do provide a higher probability of capturing, marking and monitoring individual CWD infected deer. It will give us insight into the effects of CWD on Pennsylvania’s deer population.” 

A second project with the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Penn State University will use modeling to investigate how CWD may affect future deer populations and what actions can be taken to reduce any negative effects. 

David Walter, Assistant Leader of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit said, “Pennsylvania’s landscape is ideal for white-tailed deer, so it is important for the Game Commission to have Pennsylvania specific data when recommending CWD management actions. This study will provide that needed data.”

CWD has a long incubation period, and an infected deer might not show clinical signs of the disease for up to 18 to 24 months before infection signs appear. In the meantime, they appear normal but continue spreading the disease to other deer. 

What’s more unfortunate, there is no approved live-animal test for CWD. Current testing methods can detect it only by examining tissues, such as brainstem and lymph nodes, collected from dead animals. 

Pennsylvania’s CWD research efforts have only told us that CWD is spreading across their state and currently there is no cure to resolve it. There is also no evidence of CWD infecting humans or other species under natural conditions.