The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) received laboratory confirmation on January 19, 2010, that a white-tailed deer tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD). This is the first confirmed case of CWD in Virginia. The deer was killed by a hunter in Frederick County less than one mile from the West Virginia line. With this case, Virginia now joins 17 other states and Canadian provinces with CWD, five of which are east of the Mississippi River.

“This was not unexpected,” stated VDGIF Executive Director Bob Duncan. “Our wildlife professionals have been preparing for this for some time. The surveillance efforts have been critical and we appreciate the hunters, check station operators, and other cooperators who have supported our efforts.”

CWD is a disease of deer and has not been found to be transmitted to humans or other animals.

This is the first positive test sample out of nearly 5,000 deer tested in the Commonwealth since 2001. VDGIF has been sampling hunter-killed and road-killed deer from the Active Surveillance Area in western Frederick and Shenandoah counties since 2005, when CWD was first detected near Slanesville, West Virginia, within ten miles of the state line. Between 2005 and 2009, CWD has been detected in 62 deer in Hampshire County, West Virginia, out of nearly 10,000 total deer sampled during that time. Several have been found within five miles of the Virginia line.

To learn more about CWD in Virginia and about the agency’s CWD Response Plan visit the VDGIF web site: www.dgif.virginia.gov/cwd -- Jay Cassell