Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks recently announced that they collected a record-breaking 9,066 Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) samples during the 2024-25 hunting season. This is the largest number of samples ever collected in a single year in Montana. Of these samples, 335 tested positive for CWD, including 202 white-tailed deer, 127 mule deer, and six elk. Hunters played a crucial role in collecting many of these samples, with over 4,521 samples submitted from priority sampling areas in southwestern, central, and central-eastern Montana.
The samples were tested by removing the animals’ lymph nodes and sending them to the FWP Wildlife Health Program in Bozeman for further testing. Data collected from these samples help FWP identify the prevalence of CWD and adjust management strategies, such as issuing more hunting tags in affected areas to manage herd densities.
CWD is a fatal disease that affects deer, elk, and moose. Although there is no known transmission of CWD to humans, the CDC advises hunters to have their animals tested if harvested in an area where CWD is known to occur. FWP will continue collecting samples throughout the year to monitor the spread of the disease.
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