| Year |
Event |
| 1967 |
CWD was first identified as a clinical disease in captive mule deer at the Colorado Division of Wildlife Foothills Wildlife Research Facility in Fort Collins, Colorado. |
| 1978 |
CWD was officially classified as a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE). TSE's include scrapie in sheep and goats, Mad Cow disease in cattle, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. |
| 1979 |
CWD was first recognized in captive mule deer and black-tailed deer at the Wyoming Fish and Game Department's Sybille wildlife research facility.
CWD was diagnosed in captive elk for the first time. |
| 1981 |
The Colorado Division of Wildlife identified CWD in a wild elk, marking the first documented case of CWD in a wild cervid. |
| 1985 |
The Colorado Division of Wildlife confirmed the presence of CWD in a wild mule deer for the first time.
The Colorado Division of Wildlife attempted to eliminate CWD from the Fort Collins Foothills Wildlife Research Facility by treating the soil with chlorine, removing the treated soil, and applying an additional chlorine treatment before letting the facility remain vacant for more than a year. The effort was unsuccessful.
The Wyoming Fish and Game Department identified CWD in a wild mule deer, marking the state's first case of CWD in a wild cervid. |
| 1996 |
CWD was found for the first time outside of the Colorado/Wyoming CWD "endemic zone" in a captive elk farm in Saskatchewan.
|
| 1997 |
CWD is identified on several captive elk facilities in South Dakota, marking the first documented cases of CWD in the state.
|
| 1999 |
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission discovered CWD in a wild mule deer, the state's first documented case of the disease.
|
| 2000 |
CWD was found in a Saskatchewan mule deer, marking the first time the disease was found in the province's wild cervids.
|
| 2001 |
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources detected CWD in wild white-tailed deer, the state's first documented case of CWD.
South Dakota discovered CWD in wild white-tailed deer for the first time.
Nebraska discovered CWD in a captive white-tailed deer facility for the first time
|
| 2002 |
The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish discovered CWD in a mule deer near White Sands Missile Range. This is the first case of CWD in the state of New Mexico.
The Minnesota Board of Animal Health confirmed the presence of CWD in a captive elk, the state's first documented case of the disease.
The 1st International CWD Symposium was held in Denver, Colorado.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources detected CWD in a captive white-tailed deer, the state's first documented case of CWD in captive cervids.
Saskatchewan detected CWD in a mule deer outside of the province's previously delineated CWD containment area.
CWD is detected in a captive elk facility in Oklahoma, marking the first time the disease was found in the state.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources discovered CWD in a wild white-tailed deer, the state's first documented case of CWD.
The South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks discovered CWD in wild elk from the Wind Cave National Park. This documented the first case of CWD found in the state's wild elk populations.
The first case of CWD in Alberta was found at a white-tailed deer farm near Edmonton.
Wyoming confirmed the first case of CWD in a mule deer west of the Continental Divide.
|
| 2003 |
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources detected CWD in a wild mule deer, marking the state's first case of CWD.
A dot blot ELISA test for CWD, developed by VMRD, Inc., was licensed for CWD testing.
United States Department of Agriculture licensed a CWD dot plot (ELISA) test developed by VMRD, Inc. The test analyzes retropharyngeal lymph node samples and has a turnaround time of approximately 24 hours.
U.S. Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO) introduced a comprehensive bi-partisan bill targeted at coordinating and increasing federal response to CWD management.
Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) introduced two bills created to assist states in combating the spread of CWD; the National Chronic Wasting Disease Task Force Establishment Act and the Chronic Wasting Disease Research, Monitoring, and Education Enhancement Act.
The United States Department of Agriculture approved a second-generation CWD test developed by Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.
Congress approved a bill that includes $4.2 million to expand research on CWD in wild deer and elk populations.
|
| 2004 |
Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson announced creation of a federal interagency working group to identify gaps in scientific knowledge about abnormal prion proteins and promote coordination of prion research projects by federal agencies.
CWD was set as a national priority for piloting a Wildlife Disease Action Plan by the Canadian Councils of Resource Ministers.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department discovered the presence of CWD for the first time on the east slope of the Snowy Range Mountains in the north-central part of the state.
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission confirmed a case of CWD in a white-tailed deer near the town of Grand Island. This is approximately 250 miles east of the Panhandle where all previous cases of CWD had been documented.
|
| 2005 |
The Colorado Division of Wildlife identified a case of CWD in a mule deer south of Colorado Springs. This is the farthest south on the Front Range that CWD has been detected.
The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets confirmed the presence of CWD in a captive white-tailed deer, marking the state's first documented case of CWD.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation discovered CWD in a wild white-tailed deer from Oneida County. This documented the first case of CWD found in the state's wild deer populations.
The 2nd International CWD Symposium was held in Madison, Wisconsin.
The first documented case of CWD in West Virginia is identified in a wild white-tailed deer.
The Colorado Division of Wildlife
confirmed the first documented case of CWD in a wild moose.
Alberta discovered a case of CWD in a wild mule deer, marking the first time CWD was found in the province's wild cervids.
The New Mexico Department of Fish and Game discovered CWD in two wild elk from the Sacramento Mountains, documenting the first cases of CWD found in the state's wild elk populations.
|
| 2006 |
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks discovered CWD in a white-tailed deer from Cheyenne County. This is the first time CWD was found in the state.
Researchers at the University of Kentucky found that CWD prions are present in the leg muscles of infected deer.
The Minnesota Board of Animal Health confirmed that a captive white-tailed deer from Lac Qui Parle County tested positive for CWD. This is the state's first case of CWD in captive white-tailed deer.
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers discovered that infectious prions adhere to specific soil minerals where they remain infective.
The New Mexico Game and Fish Department identified CWD in a mule deer on the Stallion site of White Sands Missile Range, 75 miles further north of the state's northernmost infection area.
Colorado State University researchers found that infectious prions are capable of transmitting CWD through saliva and blood.
The Colorado Division of Wildlife reported finding two additional moose with CWD in the northern part of the state.
|
| 2007 |
The first white-tailed deer to test positive for CWD in Alberta was identified by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources published an e-book addressing various modeling approaches to describe the spatial epidemiology of CWD.
Research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison revealed that the infectivity of prions significantly increases when they are bound to certain soil minerals.
|
| 2008 |
The first cases of CWD in Saskatchewan's wild elk population are found in the province's east-central region.
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Colorado State University developed a new pre-mortem CWD test for elk.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources detected CWD in a captive white-tailed deer from Kent County. This is state's first documented case of CWD.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department discovered CWD in a wild moose. This is the first time a moose infected with CWD is found outside of Colorado.
Elk meat sold at a Longmont, Colorado farmers market was found to come from a captive elk infected with CWD.
|
| 2009 |
Researchers found that prions are shed in the feces of early-stage CWD-infected deer.
Colorado State University researchers were granted $2.5 million from the National Science Foundation to study transmission of CWD.
|
| 2010 |
The first documented case of CWD in Virginia is identified in a wild white-tailed deer.
The Missouri Department of Agriculture discovers the state's first case of CWD in a captive white-tailed deer.
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