Below is a news release from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

Hunters are again being asked to bring their harvested deer to various stations across the state during this fall’s hunts, so Utah Division of Wildlife Resources biologists can test the animals for chronic wasting disease.

Chronic wasting disease in Utah

Chronic wasting disease is a relatively rare transmissible disease that affects the nervous systems of deer, elk and moose. The disease was first discovered in Utah in 2002 in a buck deer taken during the rifle hunt near Vernal.

The disease is caused by a misfolded protein, called a prion, that accumulates in the animal’s brain and spinal cord. (The same type of misfolded protein causes “mad cow disease” in cows and scrapie in sheep.) Infected animals develop brain lesions, become emaciated, appear listless and have droopy ears. They may also salivate excessively and will eventually die. Deer in the early stages of chronic wasting disease appear healthy — including animals that may be harvested by hunters — so the only way to know if your deer is infected is to get it tested.

Infected animals may shed prions in their urine, feces and saliva, even when they aren’t showing symptoms. Transmission may occur directly through contact with an infected animal or indirectly through environmental contamination. (A dead carcass can contaminate the soil.) Prions are extremely resilient in the environment and can stay infectious for many years.

“We take the presence of CWD in Utah seriously and will continue to do extensive monitoring to stay on top of the disease and its prevalence in the state,” DWR State Wildlife Veterinarian Ginger Stout said. “Recent surveys have shown that 78 percent of hunters have never had their deer tested for CWD. We are strongly encouraging hunters to stop at our check stations if they harvest a deer within the sampling hunting units this year. The data collected through this is crucial in helping us stay on top of CWD monitoring in Utah in order to maintain healthy deer populations into the future.”

While the Centers for Disease Control says the risk of transmission from animals to humans is considered extremely low, they recommend not consuming meat from animals infected with CWD.

As of Sept. 2, 356 deer and 10 elk have tested positive for CWD in Utah. The disease is found throughout northeastern, southeastern and some parts of central Utah. Visit the DWR website to see which hunting units have had positive CWD cases.

Important CWD sampling information

The DWR sets up monitoring checkpoints — rotating between various hunting units across the state on a five-year schedule — in order to sample Utah’s deer populations for CWD.

Hunters who go to the check stations will receive a free CWD test if they harvested a deer on one of the units being sampled this year. Click here to view the hunting units the DWR is requesting samples from this year.

(Photo credit: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources)