IDNR Announces Chronic Wasting Disease Sampling Locations For Deer Hunters
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is reminding deer hunters about locations where deer can be tested for chronic wasting disease (CWD) free of charge. Chronic wasting disease is a fatal disease of the central nervous system in deer and elk. Chronic wasting disease is a fatal disease of the central nervous system in deer and elk. It was first detected in a suspect adult female deer from northwest Boone County in 2002. Since then, 185,896 wild deer have been sampled statewide, and 2,748 individual deer tested positive for CWD. The disease has been detected across a 25-county area of northern and west-central Illinois. Wildlife biologists monitor the geographic distribution and intensity of CWD primarily through testing of hunter-harvested deer. CWD is not known to be transmissible to humans. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization do not recommend consuming CWD-positive venison (deer meat). Hunters
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