Chronic Wasting Desease

What is being done about CWD in Virginia?
VDGIF has developed a CWD Response Plan (PDF)s that guides response actions when CWD is found in or near Virginia, as well as an annually-updated CWD Surveillance Plan (PDF) that guides how we will continue to look for the disease. VDGIF monitors CWD status in other states as well as new information and developments as they emerge, continues to closely regulate captive deer in Virginia, and regularly provides accurate and timely information about CWD to deer hunters and the general public.

Due to the detection of CWD in Frederick County in 2009, VDGIF has implemented a number of measures to protect Virginia's deer herd, effective April 2010. The following measures will be taken to help slow and contain the spread of CWD. All measures outlined below will apply to the CWD Containment Area located in Frederick County and the City of Winchester west of I-81 and that portion of Shenandoah County west of I-81 and north of Route 675 (see map, right). Hunting season changes and a year-round ban on deer feeding also apply to surrounding areas (including Clarke, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties).

• All deer killed by hunters within the CWD Containment Area on specified dates must be brought to a designated sampling station for CWD testing:
  The first 3 Saturdays of general firearms season (e.g., November 13, 20, and 27 during 2010)
• Hunters can still check their deer via telephone or Internet but must bring the deer to a designated CWD sampling station on these specified dates
  For designated sampling stations and other updates, please check this web page and look for press releases before hunting season.
  
• Whole deer carcasses or deer parts cannot be transported out of the CWD Containment Area, except:
  Deer parts currently allowed under the carcass importation ban (i.e., quarters or other meat with no spinal material, wrapped boned-out meat; see complete list above)
  Whole deer carcasses or parts being transported directly to commercial meat processors, taxidermists, or lined landfills within Frederick or Shenandoah counties
  
• Three hunting season changes will apply to private lands in Clarke, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties and the City of Winchester including:
  
• The daily bag limit shall be two deer per day
  
• Earn-A-Buck is in effect, meaning at least one antlerless deer must be taken on private lands before the second antlered deer of the license year may be taken on private lands
  
• Both the early and late muzzleloading seasons on private lands in Shenandoah County will be full season either sex
  
• No changes have been made for public lands in any of these counties
  
• Feeding of deer is prohibited year round in Clarke, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties and the City of Winchester. Elsewhere in Virginia, it is unlawful to distribute food, minerals, carrion or similar substances to feed or attract deer from September 1 through the first Saturday in January. This prohibition does not include the planting of wildlife food plots.
  
• Rehabilitation is prohibited for any deer that originates from within the CWD Containment Area.

http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/diseases/cwd/

VDGIF to Hold Public Information Meeting on CWD May 12

News Release
For Immediate Release
4/28/2010
Contact
Nelson Lafon, Deer Project Coordinator, 540-248-9295
Cale Godfrey, Assistant Director of Wildlife Division, 804-367-6482

VDGIF to Hold Public Information Meeting on CWD
What does CWD mean to me? Come find out at the CWD Public Information Meeting Scheduled for May 12 at Gainesboro Elementary School

Richmond, VA — The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) will be hosting an information meeting regarding Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and how having a confirmed case in Virginia will affect hunting and other activities in the region. The meeting will be held on May 12, at Gainesboro Elementary School from 7-9 p.m. Wildlife biologists and conservation police officers will be on hand to discuss the agency's CWD Response Plan and actions that may be taken.

VDGIF received laboratory results from CWD samples collected through the 2009-2010 hunting season, and found one confirmed case of CWD. Since 2002, nearly 5,000 samples have been collected in Virginia, and CWD has been detected in only one deer.

The CWD-positive deer was killed by a hunter on November 14, 2009, in western Frederick County and was one of more than 200 hunter-killed and vehicle-killed deer in the Active Surveillance Area tested this year for CWD. The Active Surveillance Area consisted of parts of western Frederick and Shenandoah Counties. VDGIF biologists have focused CWD surveillance in this area since 2005, when a deer with the disease was found in Hampshire County, West Virginia, within 10 miles of the Virginia state line. Deer with CWD have been found in that area of West Virginia every year since then.

CWD has been detected in 18 states and two Canadian provinces. CWD is a slow, progressive neurological (brain and nervous system) disease found in deer, elk, and moose in North America. The disease ultimately results in death of the animal. Symptoms exhibited by CWD-infected deer include, staggering, abnormal posture, lowered head, drooling, acting confused, and marked weight loss. There is no evidence that CWD can be naturally transmitted to humans, livestock, or pets.

Guided by the CWD Response Plan, a CWD Response Team composed of staff from VDGIF and other state and federal agencies considered a range of potential measures to manage CWD in the area. Recommended management actions, endorsed by the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries on April 20, 2010, and effective immediately, include:

* Delineation of a CWD Containment Area (CA) in western Frederick and Shenandoah counties, including the City of Winchester.
* Mandatory disease testing of deer harvested by hunters in the Containment Area on November 13, 20, and 27, 2010, at seven designated sampling stations.
* Prohibition of deer feeding year-round in Clark, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties, and in the City of Winchester.
* Prohibit movement of deer carcasses and parts out of the Containment Area, with exceptions for certain parts allowed under the carcass importation law (e.g., quarters), and for parts going to meat processors, taxidermists, or landfills in Frederick or Shenandoah counties.
* Require meat processors, taxidermists, road-kill pickup crews, and waste management service contractors to dispose of all deer wastes from the Containment Area in a lined landfill in Frederick or Shenandoah counties.
* Prohibit rehabilitation and release of deer that originate from within the Containment Area and require that deer rehabilitated elsewhere in Frederick or Shenandoah counties not be released outside the county of origin.
* As a proactive measure to prevent spread of CWD, reduce the deer population in Clark, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties and in the City of Winchester by increasing the daily bag limit to two deer, activating an Earn-A-Buck requirement, and establishing all muzzleloader seasons as full-season either-sex.

The full text of recommended management actions can be found on the VDGIF website at www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/diseases/cwd/, along with other information about CWD.

Anyone who sees a sick deer that displays any of the signs described above should contact the nearest VDGIF office immediately with accurate location information. Please do not attempt to disturb or kill the deer before contacting the VDGIF.

It is the mission of the VDGIF to maintain optimum populations of all species to serve the needs of the Commonwealth; to provide opportunity for all to enjoy wildlife, inland fish, boating and related outdoor recreation and to work diligently to safeguard the rights of the people to hunt, fish and harvest game as provided for in the Constitution of Virginia; to promote safety for persons and property in connection with boating, hunting and fishing; to provide educational outreach programs and materials that foster an awareness of and appreciation for Virginia's fish and wildlife resources, their habitats, and hunting, fishing, and boating opportunities.