New York Confirms First Chronic Wasting Disease Case in 21 Years
New York's Department of Environmental Conservation is requiring hunters in six Livingston County towns to submit deer samples for testing after chronic wasting disease was found in a wild deer, the state's first positive in 21 years. A five-year containment area is in place.
New York's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has added requirements for hunters in six Livingston County towns after chronic wasting disease was confirmed in a wild deer harvested there in early November. It is the state's first positive test in 21 years for the disease, which is fatal to deer, elk and moose.
Hunters who harvest deer in Conesus, Groveland, North Dansville, Sparta, Springwater and West Sparta must now submit tissue samples to the DEC for testing.
The last wild detection in New York was in 2005, according to DEC officials.
Samples can be submitted at a DEC check station, a cooperating meat processor or taxidermist, or by putting the head in a head collection bin. The DEC website explains how to submit a sample.
Brendan Quirion, the DEC's Big Game Unit leader, said the goal is to understand how far the disease has spread so wildlife officials can work to limit it.
"We're also prohibiting the movement of any deer from captive facilities in that area, prohibiting the rehabilitation of deer from that area, and restricting use of deer products such as urine and other deer products being transported out of that containment area," Quirion said.
The containment area will stay in place for five years. The DEC advises hunters not to eat venison from a deer they harvest until they receive its test results.
The disease is caused by misfolded proteins called prions that damage the brain and nervous system, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It can spread through the saliva, urine and feces of infected animals.
No case has ever been confirmed in humans, and the CDC says there is no evidence the disease naturally infects humans, livestock or pets. The DEC still says it poses a serious threat to deer populations and that hunters should avoid eating sick animals.
The disease has appeared elsewhere in the state. The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets detected it in a captive deer herd in Herkimer County in 2024, the DEC said.
The DEC continues testing white-tailed deer in that area, including deer taken in five Herkimer County towns: Columbia, German Flatts, Litchfield, Warren and Winfield. Testing also covers Richfield in Otsego County.
The DEC will hold a virtual information session and webinar on chronic wasting disease at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 17.
