CWD is transmitted directly through animal-to-animal contact, and indirectly through contact with objects or environment contaminated with infectious material (including saliva, urine, feces, and carcasses of CWD-infected animals). It may take over a year before an infected animal develops symptoms, which can include drastic weight loss (wasting), stumbling, listlessness and other neurologic symptoms. The incubation period for CWD in whitetail deer is 16-22 months.
Currently the only approved way to find CWD is through the testing of dead animals. There are multiple live tests available; however, none have yet been approved by USDA for routine surveillance. The incubation period for CWD in whitetail deer is 16-22 months.
When CWD is found in a DEER FARM A quarantine is implemented on the facility to halt all movement of animals in and out of the facility. An epidemiological investigation takes place, which is simply a herd health assessment. In many cases the herd is then depopulated.
CWD is not known to infect livestock or humans. As a precaution, hunters should avoid eating deer and elk from areas where CWD has been identified. Since 1997, the World Health Organization has recommended that it is important to keep the agents of all known prion diseases from entering the human food chain.
