Chronic Wasting Disease in Oregon

Frequently Asked Questions

What is chronic wasting disease (CWD)?

Chronic Wasting Disease is an always fatal, untreatable, highly infectious disease that affects members of the deer/elk family. If we don't get ahead of it now, CWD could potentially cause a major decline in deer, elk, and moose populations in Oregon.

How does CWD spread?

The infections proteins that cause CWD (called prions) are shed by infected animals and can stay in the soil for years, potentially infecting other animals. The disease can also be spread by nose-to-nose contact between animals and through urine, feces, blood and saliva.

Where is CWD?

CWD has been detected in deer and elk in 36 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces. Currently, CWD has not yet been detected in Oregon. However, CWD has been found in three bordering states – Idaho in 2021, and both California and Washington in 2024.

What are the symptoms of CWD?

CWD has a long incubation period – meaning animals typically do not show symptoms until very late stages of the disease. When symptoms do show, most obvious signs include progressive weight loss, abnormal and unsteady movements, excessive thirst and salivation, drooping ears, and a lack of fear of people.

Since it is impossible to diagnose this disease based on symptoms alone, ODFW encourages any person who sees a deer, elk, or moose showing these signs to report it immediately. If you see or harvest a sick animal, report it to the ODFW Wildlife Health Hotline at 866-968-2600 or by email to wildlife.health@ODFW.oregon.gov.

How do you diagnose CWD?

‌‌CWD is diagnosed by testing brain or lymph tissues from dead animals. ‌‌Samples are sent to an external lab for testing, and results are typically received by ODFW and posted online within 3-5 weeks. If your animal tests positive, ODFW will contact you and provide guidance on what to do with the meat and parts, decontamination, and other information.

Can CWD be spread to humans?

There is no evidence that CWD makes humans sick. Researchers have not found a connection from eating or handling contaminated meat, but caution is encouraged. If you're concerned about the safety of the meat, wait until you get your test results back before eating your harvest. The CDC recommends not eating meat from a CWD positive animal.

Getting your animal tested

1) Visit an ODFW field office

Make an appointment at one of 23 ODFW field offices throughout the state where an ODFW wildlife biologist can take a sample, or drop off a head in a drop barrel (after hours, especially) at select locations.‌ Please note: Hatcheries and the Salem headquarters are not setup to collect samples for CWD testing.

2) Take your animal to a participating meat processor or taxidermist

Find a list of meat processors and taxidermists who have agreed to collect CWD samples from their clients.

3) Stop at check stations ‌

Check stations along major travel routes are set up during the opening weekends of deer and elk All Legal Weapon seasons. Additional locations may be announced. Check with your local ODFW office and look for highway signs alerting you to check station locations. Hunters transporting wildlife are required to stop at a check station when they pass one.

Ways to Get Tested

Hunters can find their test results online by entering an ODFW ID number or a roadkill salvage permit confirmation number. Results may take three to five weeks, depending on when in the season your deer or elk is sampled. ODFW will contact hunters directly if their animal tests positive for CWD.

Check Results

Hunters who submit a CWD test will automatically be entered to win a Weatherby Vanguard 7mm Rem in First Lite Specter (Value $1,150), to be provided by Oregon Hunters Association. Hunters receive one automatic entry in the drawing for every test submitted for a deer or elk harvested between Aug. 1, 2025 - April 1, 2026 (one test per animal).

A chance for hunters to become winners

How can I help prevent the spread of CWD?

Hunting out of state

If you harvest a member of the deer/elk family in any other state or Canadian province, it is illegal to bring any parts of the animal containing central nervous system tissue back into Oregon.‌‌‌ The following parts are allowed as outlined in the Parts Ban section on page 16 of the Big Game Hunting Regulations:

• Meat that is cut and wrapped commercially or privately;
• Meat that has been boned out;
• Quarters or other portions of meat with no part of the spinal column or head attached;
• Hides and/or capes with no head attached;
• Skull plates with antlers attached that have been cleaned of all meat and brain tissue;
• Entire skulls that have been processed to remove all meat and brain tissue.
• Antlers (including velvet antlers) with no brain tissue attached;
• Upper canine teeth (i.e. buglers, whistlers, ivories);
• Finished taxidermy heads and finished European style skull mounts.

Hunters who bring illegal parts into Oregon will have those parts and potentially their entire harvested animal confiscated and may be liable for the cost of disposal.‌‌‌ Note that the Parts Ban extends to all 50 states, provinces and other countries - not just those with a documented case of CWD.‌‌‌‌

Hunting in Oregon

Resident hunters have no restrictions for carcass transport or disposal if the animal stays within the state of Oregon. ODFW biologists and veterinarians recommend that hunters dispose of waste parts (bones, organs) near the site of harvest, directly in a landfill or via routine garbage disposal with your service provider.‌‌‌‌

If you are a non-resident hunter, please refer to your home state/province's regulations on carcass importation and disposal, as well as any states/provinces you will be traveling through.

In 2019, Oregon State Legislature passed HB 2294, banning all commercially produced deer and elk urine scents that contain or are derived from naturally occurring urine to reduce the threat of CWD.‌‌‌‌ Hunters or businesses who have these products should safely dispose of them by bringing them to an ODFW district office. ODFW staff will arrange for any scent products collected to be properly incinerated at no cost.

What is ODFW doing?

CWD has been on ODFW's radar since 1996, when the department began testing, with over 30,000 deer, elk, and moose sampled for the disease to date. This has included hunter-harvest animals, roadkill and other animals found dead or sick throughout the state.‌‌‌

ODFW's response to the CWD threat has focused on prevention, surveillance and response guided by a team of biologists and veterinarians using the most current technology to combat the disease and following a CWD surveillance and response plan‌.

Laws and regulations

ODFW staff and the Fish and Wildlife Commission have taken several actions to try to prevent the spread of CWD to Oregon. Current actions and regulations include:‌‌‌

• Requiring any deer or elk salvaged under Oregon's roadkill salvage law to be tested for CWD.‌‌‌ The head of a salvaged animal is required to be surrendered to an ODFW office within 5 business days of salvaging.
• House Bill 3152 (passed in 2021) makes it mandatory (required) for any person transporting harvested wildlife to stop at a CWD check station when you pass one on the highway. If you are transporting animal parts for another hunter, you are required to have a Wildlife Transfer Record. This form can be found online or in the Big Game Hunting Regulations.
• The Parts Ban makes it illegal for a person to import or possess parts of any member of the deer/elk family containing brain or spinal tissue into Oregon from another state or country. Refer to page 16 of the Big Game Hunting Regulations for all allowed parts.
• Banning the importation of live animals in the deer/elk family into Oregon.
• Banning all commercially produced deer and elk urine scent products that contain or are derived from any natural urine. The import of reproductive products for artificial insemination must be pre-approved by the department and originate from a CWD-negative state or province.
• Requiring captive deer/elk facilities to report all deceased captive animals and submit for testing the heads of all animals older than six months dying of any cause.

Current Surveillance

Keeping CWD out of Oregon forever may not be possible. However, if it does enter the state, limiting its spread will depend on knowing how many animals are infected and where they're located. Targeted efforts include:

• Increasing sampling to collect high-risk animals in areas where CWD may be likely to enter the state. High-risk groups include herds bordering states with CWD, roadkill animals, and mature adult animals.
• Increasing the number and frequency of hunter check stations along major travel routes throughout the state.
• Continuing testing deer and elk for CWD as part of the roadkill salvage program.
• Working with taxidermists and commercial meat processors to collect samples for testing.
• Develop guidelines for the safe disposal of animal waste that could carry infectious materials, namely the brain, spinal cord and lymph nodes.

Planning a response to CWD detection

ODFW has a CWD Management Plan which was initially written in 2005 and most recently updated in 2022. The current revision is based on the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Best Management Practices for the Prevention, Surveillance and Management of CWD. ODFW's plan addresses four implementation actions:‌‌‌‌

• Notify partner sportsman's groups, agencies and the hunter whose animal tested positive.
• Determine what deer and elk species are affected, distribution, and prevalence of the disease.
• Control the number and movement of potentially infected animals and manage the disease through strategic response actions
• Relay accurate information to the media, hunters and other members of the public.

Unfortunately, there have been very few successful efforts to control the spread of CWD in states where the disease has been found. The success of the ODFW management plan will depend on hunter cooperation, good communication with partner groups and implementing modern strategies for CWD management.‌‌‌‌

These strategies could include changes to big game hunting seasons or bag limits. For example, there is some evidence that increased hunting pressure to sustain long-term reduction of wild herd sizes in disease hot spots may be effective.‌‌‌