JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has found 46 new cases of chronic wasting disease in deer and other cervids.
The new cases, announced in MDC's chronic wasting disease report for the 2019-2020 season, bring the total tally of chronic wasting disease cases to 162.
The new cases were found in 11 counties:
- Adair County: 3
- Franklin County: 6
- Jefferson County: 1
- Linn County: 8
- Macon County: 8
- Oregon County: 2
- Perry County: 2
- Polk County: 1
- Ste Genevieve County: 10
- Stone County: 2
- Taney County: 3
This season, 25 of the new cases were found in 26,000 tissue samples, mostly collected from hunter-harvested white-tailed deer. The remaining 21 were identified through MDC's post-season culling efforts.
More than 137,000 deer have been tested for chronic wasting disease, or CWD, since it was first found in free-range deer in 2012. CWD remains relatively rare in Missouri but is slowly spreading, MDC said.
CWD is always fatal, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It may take years for animals to show symptoms, but it will eventually cause lesions in the brain.
Symptoms include excessive drooling, drooping head and ears, tremors, emaciation and behavioral changes such as lack of fear of humans and reduced coordination.
To manage CWD, MDC staff removed nearly 2,400 deer this year in areas where the disease was found.
To learn more about chronic wasting disease in Missouri, go to mdc.mo.gov/CWD.
