Chronic wasting disease continues to impact Pennsylvania’s deer herd, and the Pennsylvania Game Commission is planning on expanding the current Disease Management Areas before the 2020-2021 hunting season.
The agency collected samples from more than 17,000 free-ranging deer in 2019 and the early part of 2020, and 211 tested positive for CWD, including 204 last year alone. Also, in 2019, 15,688 samples were collected – the highest total since CWD surveillance began in the state in 1998.
In 2018, there were 123 CWD positives in free-ranging deer out of 9,631 samples collected.
Most of the positives were from heads dropped off at collection points by hunters (113), followed by roadkills (57), samples from processors (15), euthanized deer displaying symptoms (12) and unknown (7).
Nearly 90 percent of the CWD-positive deer detected in 2019-20 came from an “established area” consisting of Bedford, Blair and Fulton counties in DMA 2. That’s been the long-term trend, according to the Bob Frye, the agency’s CWD communications specialist.
The prevalence rate in the “established area” also increased last year to 6.6 percent, up from 4.5 percent in 2018 and 2 percent in 2016.
Frye noted while more samples have been collected statewide, sampling in the “established area” hasn’t changed significantly.
“The percentage of deer there with CWD is just growing, unfortunately,” he said.
Testing on hunter-submitted samples at collection bins was finished by the end of February, and deer processor samples were done in the beginning of March. Tests of roadkilled deer wasn’t completed until late April, which is a little behind schedule, which may have been due to COVID-19 restrictions or the testing facility waiting on the availability of kits, Frye said.
As a result of the increase in CWD-positive deer, the agency will expand the boundaries for DMAs 2, 3 and 4. That will take place in June, Frye said, and the new boundaries are still being determined. The expansion of DMA 2 is the result of positives in captive and wild deer. Wild deer positives will cause DMA 3 to expand, while positives in captive deer is the reason for the change in DMA 4.
Because the changes will occur after the Hunting and Trapping Digest has gone to print, the PGC will inform hunters of the new boundaries in other ways.
“We’ll be printing pamphlets and giving posters to license issuing agents, among other efforts,” Frye said. “We’re going to use a variety of means to reach out to hunters.”
Also, in 2019-20, samples from 161 free-ranging elk yielded no positives, continuing a trend from 2018 when CWD wasn’t detected in 122 elk samples.
In addition to expanding the DMAs, the PGC is also in the process of revising its Chronic Wasting Disease Response Plan. Potential actions in the plan include statewide bans on feeding deer – including the use of minerals and supplements – and the use or field possession of attractants, such as natural deer urine and synthetic varieties, both of which are used by archery hunters.
Public comment on the plan concluded May 7, and PGC Press Secretary Travis Lau said the board of commissioners will hold a special meeting to consider the plan after agency staff make final adjustments. The meeting could be held in May, Lau said, adding that the board can adopt the plan in its entirety or just approve specific recommendations.
Depending on how the board proceeds, Lau said it’s possible that a ban on the use of deer attractants could be in place before the statewide fall archery season, which is slated to begin on Oct. 5.
- This story originally appeared in Pennsylvania Outdoor News.
