An emergency order to impose additional movement and testing restrictions on deer breeding facilities affiliated with six deer breeding facilities where Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has been positively detected, has been put in place by the Parks and Wildlife Department.
Existing rules already restrict the movement of deer from 264 sites in 95 counties that are directly linked to these CWD-positive facilities, but further measures are necessary given the gravity of this situation.
TPWD and Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) are addressing risks and improving management strategies to protect big game resources from CWD in captive or free-ranging cervid populations. Both agencies recognize the need for full cooperation and partnership among government agencies, deer breeders, private landowners, hunters, conservation organizations and the general public in managing CWD in Texas.
“This is a terribly unfortunate development that we are committed to addressing as proactively, comprehensively, and expeditiously as possible,” said Carter Smith, TPWD executive director. “The health of our state’s free-ranging and captive deer herds, as well as affiliated hunting, wildlife, and rural based economies, are vitally important to Texas hunters, communities, and landowners.”
Officials have taken action to secure all cervids at the CWD-positive facilities with plans to conduct additional CWD investigations. Those breeding facilities that received deer or shipped deer to those facilities during the last five years are under movement restrictions and cannot move or release cervids until cleared by a herd plan.
Additional measures included in the emergency order include enhanced testing requirements for facilities with close epidemiological ties to the CWD-positive facilities and antemortem testing of deer from all movement qualified deer breeding facilities prior to transfer to a release site.
Dr. Andy Schwartz, TAHC executive director and State Veterinarian said, “the TAHC will continue to use its veterinary and epidemiological expertise to facilitate and contribute to the state’s CWD herd management and surveillance strategies.”
As the state veterinary diagnostic laboratory, the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL), uses surveillance testing to help wildlife producers and wildlife/animal health agencies to ensure the health of species susceptible to CWD.
CWD was first recognized in the United States in 1967 and has since been documented in captive and/or free-ranging deer in 26 states and three Canadian provinces. In Texas, the disease was first discovered in 2012 in free-ranging mule deer along a remote area of the Hueco Mountains near the Texas-New Mexico border and has since been detected in 228 captive or free-ranging cervids, including white-tailed deer, mule deer, red deer and elk in 13 Texas counties. For more information on previous detections visit the CWD page on the TPWD website.