More deer test deadly sick

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife has confirmed that 11 additional wild white-tailed deer tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Wyandot and Marion counties. Seven were bucks and four were does. Testing was performed on hunter-harvested deer during the 2022-23 season, as well as through a planned operation in February and March to obtain additional samples. Since the fall of 2020, 22 wild deer have tested positive for CWD, all in Wyandot and Marion counties. Sixteen were confirmed in Wyandot County and six were confirmed in Marion County. CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer and other similar species, including mule deer, elk and moose. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no strong evidence that CWD is transmissible to humans. Sampling for CWD will continue in the 2023-24 deer hunting season. Special deer hunting regulations and hunting opportunities will be in effect in the disease surveillance area of Hardin, Marion and Wyandot counties. The Division of Wildlife has extensively monitored and tested deer in the disease surveillance area since CWD was discovered in the wild in 2020. The Division of Wildlife has conducted routine surveillance for CWD since 2002, with approximately 39,000 deer tested. CWD has been detected in 30 states and four Canadian provinces. The disease was first discovered in the 1960s in the western U.S. More information about this disease is available at cwd-info.org.