The Game Commission Thursday reported 78 free-ranging deer tested positive for chronic wasting disease in 2017, more than three times the number in 2016 when 25 were detected.
With the number of chronic wasting disease cases continuing to multiply, more of the state’s residents are being impacted by rules that aim to slow the spread of the disease, which always is fatal to the deer and elk it infects.
Most of the new free-ranging positives – 75 of them – either were within or near the boundary of Disease Management Area 2 (DMA 2) in Southcentral Pennsylvania. Three free-ranging CWD-positives were within or near DMA 3 in northwestern Pennsylvania.
Both of these DMAs have been expanded as a result of CWD-positive deer being detected near their boundaries.
And with the creation earlier this year of DMA 4, which was established after CWD was detected at a captive deer farm in Lancaster County, more than 5,895 square miles within Pennsylvania lie within DMAs, in which special rules apply to hunters and residents.
It’s unlawful to feed deer within DMAs. Hunters are prohibited from transporting high-risk parts (generally the head and backbone) from deer they harvest within a DMA to points outside a DMA. And the use or field possession of urine-based deer attractants also is prohibited within DMAs.
Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans stressed the importance of becoming familiar and complying with these rules.
“The escalating number of CWD detections and the sudden emergence of this disease in new parts of the state should put all Pennsylvanians on guard to the threat CWD poses and the disease’s potential to have damaging impacts on Pennsylvania’s deer and deer-hunting tradition,” Burhans said. “It’s important for each of us to take this threat seriously and do all we can to slow the spread of the disease where it exists.
“By discontinuing feeding of deer and curbing other behavior that induces deer to congregate, and potentially spread disease, and by responsibly disposing of high-risk deer parts and not transporting them outside DMAs, those living within DMAs can do their part in helping fight CWD,” Burhans said.
Click Here for the complete announcement.
Game Commission Order
The Game Commission formally published notice in the June 16 PA Bulletin of an order changing the Disease Management Area boundaries.
House Hearing
At a hearing on chronic wasting disease by the House Game and Fisheries Committee Thursday, Burhans said--
“The PGC has an open line of communication with PDA that includes meetings where we try to identify agencies' roles and best practices to manage CWD, but we are limited with our collaboration because of legislation.
“Addressing CWD in Pennsylvania will require more resources and more stakeholder and landowner involvement, including PDA and PGC collaboration.
“How we address this disease is challenging, yet vitally important to the long-term sustainability of the Pennsylvania deer herd. Captive deer and wild deer should be treated as a "collective herd" and the finger pointing and buck passing must stop.
“It is all our responsibility to deal with this disease or the consequences will be catastrophic. Without better tools to manage this problem we will fail. We ask you to give us the tools we need so this does not happen.”
Click Here for a copy of Game Commission testimony at the Committee hearing.
Click Here for a copy of the Department of Agriculture at the Committee hearing.
Click Here to watch a video of the hearing (when posted).
For the latest information on expanded Disease Management Areas and special rules for hunters, visit the Game Commission’s Chronic Wasting Disease webpage.
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