SPOKANE, Wash — The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has confirmed a second case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in an adult male white-tailed deer.
According to the WDFW, the deer was harvested close to where Washington’s first case of CWD was confirmed this summer in the Fairwood area of Spokane County.
Given the location where this deer was harvested – just north of the initial CWD detection, approximately five miles north and west of Highway 395 – this positive test result is not a complete surprise,” said Donny Martorello, chief of WDFW’s Wildlife Science Division.
The deer’s lymph nodes were tested at the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Washington State University on Oct. 16, with positive results reported the week of Nov. 15.
CWD is a disease that can impact deer, elk or moose and is fatal.
The disease is caused by abnormally shaped proteins that prevent an animal’s nervous system from properly functioning.
It spreads through direct contact with infected animals or through a contaminated environment.