Hunters Can Help with CWD Testing

POCATELLO - This year the Idaho Department of Fish and Game will continue to sample for Chronic Wasting Disease or CWD, a progressive and fatal disease of the nervous system of cervids (deer and elk). The Southeast Region of Fish and Game will be collecting CWD samples at hunter check stations located near Inkom and Soda Springs during the hunting season. Fish and Game also has barrels at various locations to collect heads from hunters who wish to have their deer or elk sampled, including one at the regional office in Pocatello. Information regarding other barrel locations can be acquired by contacting your local Fish and Game office. Additional samples will be obtained from meat processors and taxidermists throughout the southeast region of Idaho. Hunters can also have their game tested at the University of Idaho (208-454-8657). CWD is one of a group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathys (TSE) that includes bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cows, scrapie in sheep, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans. CWD was first discovered in Colorado in 1967. Since that time, it has been documented in free ranging deer and elk in northeastern Colorado, southeastern Wyoming, northeastern Utah, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Arizona. It has also been documented in captive deer and elk facilities in several other states. So far, CWD has not been found in Idaho. The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control have concluded that there is currently no evidence that CWD in deer and elk is transmitted to humans. If you have any further questions regarding CWD or CWD sampling, please contact Pocatello Fish and Game at 232-4703 or your local Fish and Game office.