PRICE — The Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is in the process of monitoring the presence and prevalence of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Utah. To date, a total of five deer have tested positive during the past two years. Sportsmen participating in next week’s deer hunt are encouraged to cooperate with the disease monitoring effort.
Testing for the disease is done by removing the lymph nodes from the throat of the deer. Abnormal proteins (prions), indicative of CWD, tend to accumulate in the lymph node tissues. Lymph nodes from each deer sampled are sent to a laboratory in Logan and hunters can learn whether the deer has tested positive within four weeks by visiting www.sci-nevada.com/CHRONICWASTING/login.aspx.
Currently, there is no evidence to indicate that the disease can be transmitted to humans by eating or handling meat of infected animals. However, hunters are advised to avoid contact with brain or spinal tissue, spinal fluids, and lymph nodes. The use of latex gloves while field-dressing and butchering is recommended.
Southeastern Utah checking stations
DWR personnel will be taking disease samples from deer harvested throughout the Southeastern Region. A number of hunters will encounter officers in the field, at check stations, or at meat processing facilities. In addition to checking stations located in other areas of the state, the following are locations where CWD sampling in southeastern Utah will take place.
- R&A Market, 408 S. Main St., Helper, Utah
- Walker’s Truck Stop in Wellington
- Two-Mile Road junction with Highway 46, one and a half miles east of LaSal
- Johnson Creek at the Forest Service boundary seven miles north of Blanding
- Jerry’s Custom Meats, Spring Glen
- Butcher Boy Meat Processing, 1140 Wasatch Ave, Moab
- Four-Point Meat Processing, 81 West 200 South, Monticello
- Magnuson Meat Market, 190 East 1000 North, Castle Dale
- Dale’s Custom Meats, 130 East 300 North, Huntington