Since it was first discovered back in 2005 in a road-killed deer near Slanesville in Hampshire County, 31 whitetails have tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease in West Virginia. Most recently, 11 new cases of the ailment were found within an area identified by the DNR as the "containment zone."
"These deer were sampled during our spring collection period where we have biologists and managers out shooting deer from that targeted area, trying to look at prevalence and distribution of the disease,” said the DNR’s Paul Johansen. "It’s not unexpected at all that we picked up some additional positives."
Johansen adds that despite finding 11 new cases, none of those new cases came from outside the targeted area north of Route 50 in Hampshire County.
Another piece of good news is that none of the deer taken to date which tested positive for CWD actually showed the ugly signs they were suffering from the virus.
"All of the animals examined to date have appeared to be in great condition. They have not exhibited any of the latter stages symptomatic of chronic wasting disease," said Johansen. "They haven’t appeared to be wasting away, thin or emaciated. They haven’t demonstrated any neurological problems."
There’s still no answer to the mystery of how CWD wound up in West Virginia in the first place. Johansen says it’s not likely we’ll ever know, but it doesn’t make much difference. The virus is here, the bigger question is how to stop its spread. So far the DNR has been able to effectively make that happen.
Deer in the targeted area are aggressively harvested in hopes of getting those infected out of the population before it’s allow to spread far. Data reveals a high turnover rate of deer in Hampshire County. The agency has also banned baiting in the area. Feeding deer is also prohibited. Both baiting and feeding are considered major contributors to spreading wildlife diseases. There are very lax restrictions on antlerless deer hunting in the containment area and there’s a ban on removing any deer carcass harvested from Hampshire County.
Johansen hopes those moves will at least lower the population to a point where the numbers will keep deer from spreading the virus through populations in neighboring counties or states.