(State) Chronic Wasting Disease is being studied by the Iowa DNR.
CWD is a neurological disease impacting deer, moose, and elk. Here’s Private Lands Biologist Kelsey Fleming. “What this disease does is attack the brain and infect animals causing them to lose weight and act abnormally. It’s 100% fatal once the animal gets. So it’s important to get those animals detected. If you’re seeing any deer that are showing these abnormalities be sure to contact your local conservation officer or biologist.”
In an effort to learn more about the disease, the Iowa DNR is collecting tissue samples.
“If you harvested a deer we’d love for you to contact your local biologist so we can collect a sample from you. We have a quota from every county and we will be taking samples. Even after we hit that quota you can still bring in your deer and we will test it to see if it is positive or not for CWD.”
Fleming says last year cases were detected in the Northeast and South Central portions of the state.
