The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has confirmed two deer - a yearling male killed in southeast Jefferson County and a mature buck killed in northern Franklin County - tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD).
MDC has received results for more than half of approximately 19,200 tissue samples being tested for CWD collected during the department's mandatory sampling of deer killed during the firearms season Nov. 12-13 in 29 counties in northeast, central and east-central Missouri.
MDC expects to receive results in the next few weeks from the remaining tissue samples being tested and early sampling in seven southwest Missouri counties close to where more than 100 cases of CWD have been found in Northwest Arkansas. No deer from southern Missouri tested positive for the disease.
Testing is being done by Colorado State University at an independent laboratory that specializes in wildlife-disease testing.
The department is also testing additional tissue samples taken by taxidermists and collected at MDC offices and other sampling locations throughout the deer hunting season.
For more information on the department's CWD sampling efforts and testing results, visit mdc.mo.gov/cwd and look under "CWD Surveillance Summary."
Hunters who participated in the Department's CWD sampling efforts can get test results for their deer online at mdc.mo.gov/cwdtestresults.
Chronic Wasting Disease infects only deer and other members of the deer family by causing degeneration of the brain. The disease has no vaccine or cure and is 100 percent fatal. For more information on CWD, visit mdc.mo.gov/cwd. For information on processing and consuming meat from deer with CWD, visit the Department of Health and Senior Services at health.mo.gov/cwd.