If you harvest a deer within the DSA, 17 self-serve kiosks will be available throughout deer season to submit deer for sampling. Where to Submit a Deer for CWD Sampling For Deer Harvested in the DSA Additional information on carcass regulations, acceptable carcass parts, and a complete list of certified processors and taxidermists can be found on this page under the tab “Deer Carcass Possession and Movement Restrictions.' It is illegal to remove high-risk carcass parts from a DSA, unless the carcass complies with deer carcass regulations or the carcass is delivered to a Division of Wildlife certified processor or taxidermist within 24 hours of leaving the disease surveillance area.

The placement of or use of bait (salt, minerals, or any food) to attract or feed deer within the DSA boundaries is prohibited, as is the hunting of deer by the aid of bait.Hunters can utilize self-serve kiosks to have their deer sampled throughout the deer season. Successful hunters must bring either the head or complete carcasses of all deer harvested within the DSA to either a staffed sampling station or use a self-serve kiosk on specified days.The following regulations apply within the DSA: Given the likelihood of established disease, spatial distribution of confirmed positives, an agricultural landscape that facilitates long-distance dispersal, as well as a desire to promulgate DSA-specific harvest regulations at the county level, the DSA was expanded in February 2022 to include the entirety of Wyandot, Hardin, and Marion counties.ĭSA 2021-01 is comprised of the following entire counties: Subsequent testing during the 2021-22 season confirmed an additional nine CWD-positive deer in southern Wyandot and northern Marion counties. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife announced in June 2021 that it has enacted a Disease Surveillance Area (DSA 2021-01) in all of Wyandot and portions of Marion and Hardin counties following the discovery of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in two wild white-tailed deer harvested during the 2020-21 hunting season.

In total, 22 wild deer in southern Wyandot and northern Marion counties have tested positive for CWD.ĭisease Surveillance Areas and Regulationsĭisease Surveillance Area Regulations ĭisease Surveillance Area 2021-01 (Revised 3/22) Seven hunter-harvested deer tested positive during the 2022-23 season and an additional four CWD-positive deer were removed during targeted efforts in March 2023. Surveillance during the 2021-22 hunting season and post-season removals confirmed an additional nine positives in southern Wyandot and northern Marion counties. A second CWD-positive deer, a yearling doe, was harvested as part of a controlled hunt on Killdeer Plains Refuge in January 2021. In fall of 2020, a free-ranging white-tailed deer, a mature buck, was harvested in southern Wyandot County, sampled by a taxidermist as part of our long-standing CWD surveillance program, and subsequently confirmed positive for CWD.

An additional nine and 11 deer tested positive for CWD in the 2021-23 seasons, respectively, bringing the total number of positive cases in wild deer to 22 – all of which have been found in southern Wyandot and northern Marion counties.

Ohio confirmed its first and second CWD-positive wild deer in late 2020 and early 2021 in Wyandot County.

Since 2002, nearly 39,000 wild deer (including nearly 2,500 in the Holmes County region) have been tested for CWD statewide.Since then, 24 additional deer from three other captive facilities in Holmes and Wayne counties have tested positive for CWD. The first confirmed case of CWD in Ohio was found in a captive deer at a shooting preserve in Holmes County in 2014.

CWD has been confirmed in 30 states, 4 Canadian provinces, Finland, Norway, and South Korea.

Once an animal is infected there is no recovery or cure for CWD.

Prions released into the environment through bodily fluids or diseased carcasses are extremely resistant to degradation and can remain infectious for years.

CWD is spread through direct animal-to-animal contact or by contact with saliva, urine, feces, carcass parts of an infected animal, or contaminated materials in the environment (plants and soil).

It is caused by naturally occurring proteins, called prions, that become misfolded, creating holes in brain tissue and resulting in eventual death.

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a fatal neurological (brain and central nervous system) disease that affects members of the deer family including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, moose, and caribou.

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