Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources posted to their Facebook page on 18 Nov 2020 at 7:37 AM EST the following post:
As a result of the DWR’s ongoing chronic wasting disease (CWD) surveillance efforts, a hunter-harvested CWD-positive deer was recently confirmed in Loudoun County, less than 10 miles from the closest detection in Clarke County and less than 2 miles from the West Virginia border. This is the first CWD detection in Loudoun County.
One of the most important things that hunters in CWD Disease Management Areas (DMA) can do to help fight this fatal disease is to submit harvested deer for CWD testing. Testing helps the DWR monitor the infection rate of local deer populations and map the geographic spread. The DWR is grateful to all cooperating hunters, processors, and taxidermists for their continued support of DWR’s efforts to monitor the deer population for CWD and prevent the spread of the disease.
At any point during the deer seasons, a hunter may drop off the head plus 4 inches of attached neck of a harvested deer at one of DWR’s voluntary CWD testing collection sites. Information on nearby voluntary CWD testing collection sites can be found here: https://dwr.virginia.gov/…/diseases/cwd/cwd-information-fo…/
Some local taxidermists and processors are authorized by the DWR to collect and submit samples on behalf of hunters. Whichever way hunters decide to submit deer for CWD testing, the DWR recommends waiting to receive test results before eating the venison. There is no evidence that CWD can infect humans; however, to keep risk of exposure as low as possible, experts advise not eating the venison from CWD-positive deer.
End of the Facebook post. If an article is placed onto the Virginia DWR website that article will replace this post.