Pennsylvania Game Commission officials established a new disease management area in northeastern Warren County after a white-tailed deer tested positive for chronic wasting disease on a hunting preserve there.
The area extends from Warren to the New York state line, between the Allegheny River and Youngsville, and covers 212 square miles. Hunters who harvest deer in the area must follow certain guidelines to reduce the possibility of the fatal disease’s spread.
The hunting preserve is being quarantined for five years, according to state officials. The remaining deer were euthanized. None tested positive for CWD, according to officials from the game commission and state Department of Agriculture.
CWD is a contagious disease that can spread among deer and elk through saliva, blood, urine and feces. It affects the brain, nervous system and lymphoid tissues and is always fatal. The state Game Commission’s board last year approved a plan that focuses on prevention, management and surveillance of CWD in wild deer, not captive herds.
Hunters cannot transport a whole deer from disease management areas. High risk body parts must be disposed of either by a processor or hunter before removing the animal from the area. Taxidermy mounts must be completed within the designated area where the deer was harvested. Free chronic wasting disease testing is available and deer heads can be deposited into collection containers.
It is illegal to feed or rehabilitate wild deer in disease management areas, game commission officials said.
Disease management areas have been in place in Pennsylvania since 2012 when CWD was first found. Those zones include parts of Westmoreland, Indiana, Armstrong and Somerset counties. Under the plan approved last year, hunters will be able to use permits to help meet sampling goals in an enhanced surveillance area in central Pennsylvania.
