White-tailed deer in Arkansas tests positive for chronic wasting disease, AGFC confirms
JONESBORO, Ark. – Officials with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission confirmed Thursday that a white-tailed deer in Craighead County tested positive for chronic wasting disease.
Officials said that the 2-year-old doe was harvested near Jonesboro during the Arkansas modern gun deer hunt.
The discovery was made after an AGFC employee at a biological check station collected a sample that tested positive for CWD. The diagnosis was also confirmed by the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological disease that affects members of the deer/elk family.
Craighead County has been added to the CWD Management Zone alongside three other counties due to their proximity to other CWD positive cases. The other counties on the list include Sharp, Cleburne and Mississippi.
In all four counties, infected deer were found within the 10-mile buffer zone which increases the overall likelihood of the disease already being present in these counties. AGFC officials said that this proactive measure of including counties based on risk values is outlined in the state’s CWD Management and Response Plan.
Hunters who wish to have their deer tested for CWD can voluntarily take the head of the deer with six inches of neck still attached to one of the AGFC’s network of participating taxidermists to have a sample tested for free.
To find more information about CWD in Arkansas or where you can take your deer to get tested, visit AGFC.com/CWD.
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