Conservation officials collected thousands of tissue samples from hunter-harvested deer and found 44 new cases of chronic wasting disease.
Missouri Department of Conservation reported its findings through monitoring, management and testing for the 2020-2021 for the surveillance year of the disease, often referred to as CWD.
CWD is a deadly disease in white-tailed deer and other members of the deer family. The purpose of MDC’s CWD sampling efforts is to find cases as early as possible so the department can limit the spread of the disease by implementing management actions such as targeted culling.
The 44 cases stemmed from 15,300 tissue samples collected from harvested deer, MDC stated in a news release.