Update: What hunters should know with CWD discovery in whitetail at Herkimer County facility in New York – Outdoor News
Editor’s Note: The recent discovery of CWD is in Herkimer County, not Jefferson County as previously reported.
Columbia, N.Y. — For the first time since 2005, chronic wasting disease has been discovered in New York, this time in a deer at an unnamed private facility in Herkimer County, in upstate New York.
At press time, the incident was still considered isolated. While not detected in wild deer in the area, state officials are taking measures to test local wild deer herds for the debilitating disease that is fatal to white-tailed deer, and are prepared for more extreme measures should they be deemed warranted.
“This is big news for us, it’s been a situation that we’ve been wanting to avoid for almost the last two decades,” DEC Game Management Section Head Jeremy Hurst said. “We’re responding now as appropriately as identified in our response plan and as aggressively as we can.”
MORE COVERAGE FROM NEW YORK OUTDOOR NEWS:
New York youth hunters capitalize on special hunts
Bill Hilts, Jr.: ‘Deer Doctor’ tips for hunting the whitetail rut in New York
Vin T. Sparano: Hard to beat lever-action guns in the backwoods
DEC is asking anyone that observes sick or dying deer, including roadkill deer, in the towns of Columbia, German Flatts, or Warren in Herkimer County, and the town of Richfield in Otsego County, to report the deer to DEC immediately.
Additionally, hunters who harvest a deer in any of these same towns as well as in the towns of Litchfield or Winfield, in Herkimer County, should save the deer’s head and drop it off for testing locations provided by DEC’s Region 6 office. The office can be contacted via email at [email protected]) or by calling 315-785-2263.
The New York State Departments of Agriculture and Markets and Environmental Conservation in coordination with the State Department of Health said in a press release that the isolated case, up to this point, was confirmed Oct. 27. The state immediately began implementing its inter-agency CWD Response Plan developed jointly by DEC and AGM to thoroughly investigate and enhance surveillance of wild deer in the area. Since that time, further information has been on a day-to-day basis.
The sample was collected as part of routine surveillance conducted by AGM, and the case was confirmed through testing by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories. State and federal agency partners are continuing to investigate the detection and take actions to prevent the potential spread of CWD in the state.
Hurst said the state had immediately increased surveillance of wild deer in the area. While there was no reason to expect it would be present in the wild deer, he said “having CWD found inside a fence raises an immediate question and concern about what’s going on outside the fence.”
The response team was making contacts with local processors and had already started to collect additional deer heads from the area.
“We are working on the roadkill angle, and (will) probably end up connecting with some local landowners and local hunters in the area to increase our surveillance and get as many samples as we can from the immediate vicinity,” Hurst said.
The DEC press release said the enhanced sampling and monitoring will inform additional actions to guide the state’s disease management strategy.
When asked what’s next if CWD is discovered in the local wild deer herd, Hurst said “that’s when we would then go forward with establishing a containment area and setting up the regulatory process. That would create some impositions to hunters and have a much more long-lasting and greater ramification, really, but all that’s going to be dependent on what we find, or the presence of CWD outside the fence. So, there’s a lot that we have to learn in the coming weeks.”
CWD is a transmissible disease that affects the brain and central nervous system of certain deer, elk, and moose. At this time, the threat to public health is low. Although there is no strong evidence that CWD can infect humans, people should not consume meat from infected animals.
DEC began CWD monitoring efforts in 2002 and intensified the effort in 2005 after CWD was confirmed in both captive and wild deer in Oneida County – the first incidents of the disease in New York State.
New York hunters may not bring into the state any type of deer, elk, moose, or caribou from outside of New York and must debone the harvest before bringing it back to the state. DEC will confiscate and destroy illegally imported carcasses and parts.
Hunters are also encouraged to avoid deer urine-based lures or attractant scents, which could contain infectious material. They should also dispose of carcass waste in a landfill, rather than out on the landscape.
Deer head drop-off Instructions and locations:
A white metal container with DEC messaging will be included at each location (photo of container below). Please follow the instructions below when submitting a head for testing. DEC will test deer heads at no cost to hunters and will notify hunters immediately if the deer tests positive for CWD.
Instructions:
- Cut the deer head with some neck remaining.
- Keep head chilled or frozen until submission to DEC.
- Remove skull plate and antlers on bucks before submission.
- Place the head in a plastic garbage bag.
- Label the bag with your name, address, and phone number.
- Deposit the bagged head in the white metal container at one of the locations below.
Taxidermists can sample deer you intend to have mounted.
Town of Warren
- 131 Hyde-Bell Lane, Jordanville NY 13361 (highway department)
Town of Columbia
- 936 Jordanville Road, Ilion NY 13367 (sand building)
- 147 County Route 259, Ilion NY 13357 (town hall)
Town of Litchfield
- 804 Cedarville Road, Ilion NY 13357 (highway department)
Town of Winfield
- 306 Stone Road, West Winfield NY 13491(highway department)
Town of Herkimer
- 225 North Main Street, Herkimer NY 13350 (Herkimer NYSDEC Office)
Town of Richfield
- Boss Farm, 1545 County Route 25, Richfield Springs 13439
DEC said as conservationists, hunters have great responsibility to prevent the introduction of CWD into New York’s wild deer population. CWD is nearly impossible to eliminate once established and has the potential to impact all the benefits associated with deer and moose in New York including hunting traditions, sustainable consumption of venison, and the economic benefits derived from deer hunting.
